El Conejo
by GeneralQuistis-Zhakeena
Summary: Upon escaping from Junon, Tifa also saves a bunny rabbit and takes it with her. Little do they know that the bunny rabbit could hold the key to defeating Sephiroth and reviving Aerith. Thanks to Hojo for the rabbit... Care to see who it is?
1. One

**El Cunejo **

By: General Quistis und Zhakeena. 

Zhakeena's note: Special thanks to Rufus the Bunny Rabbit, owned by Quistis, for the inspiration. :) Nyahahah. 

General Quistis's note: Literally translated, the title means "The Rabbit". Anyway, I have a bunny rabbit named Ruffy (from a friend) and one time, I was playing with it and Zhakeena's also there… and then it's just a spur of the moment: a fic. Feh. Expect insanity. The story starts in Junon… the part where Tifa and Barret got captured and were imprisoned. Their execution date is near. (get the picture?) Here goes…

=============================================== 

"… It's that kind of dullness that makes you a second-rate scientist." 

This line from the beloved Rufus ShinRa, President of ShinRa Inc., scarred 'the' Prof. Hojo forever. 

"I shall get even with him! One day! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" he thought evilly as the President carried on with his rambling… 

-------

Rufus scowled as he stepped inside Professor Hojo's private laboratory, somewhere near the gas chambers of their base in Junon. It was dark in there. The only light sources were the glowing liquid chemicals in the various flasks and test tubes displayed on the tables. And Rufus had a hunch that there were… _animals_ in there. (the previously non-existing kind, that is.) All in all, it was pretty creepy in there. The President only wanted to get this business with Hojo over with. 

"Hojo, what was it that you wanted to ask me?" he said.

"Oh, I only want to ask your permission to allow me to have an off." Hojo replied with a sly smile on his face.

Rufus still had this stiff look on his face. "You asked me to go here so that you can ask that? You could've just headed over to my office upstairs and tell me! Can't you understand that I'm busy? And no, you can't have an off." he turned and walked away with a frustrated frown.

"Ohoho! No, President Rufus. Why not?" Hojo asked, going after the young president and grabbed his wrist. Rufus was surprised by this sudden action from this second-rate scientist of his company. His eyes widened in disgust and pulled his wrist frantically away from him. "You let go of me!" Rufus snapped with a disgusted look on his face. He got his handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his wrist with it. "You cannot have an off because the execution is going to be tomorrow already. You have to be there. It is a requirement." He mentioned with a cold look on his face before flipping his hair.

"Hahahahahaha. Execution?" Hojo asked.

"What's so funny?" Rufus demanded with an impatient tone.

Hojo stopped laughing and then smiled rather dementedly at him, "You want to kill those AVALANCHE members? They did not even do anything bad," he pointed out.

Rufus raised his eyebrows at him, "So whose side are you?" he demanded.

"I'm on your side, of course, President Rufus, but…"

"People will start blaming ShinRa for Sephiroth's faults. I cannot risk my company's image and my family's name for it. So I'll put the blame on AVALANCHE instead. That way, I'm not only saving my name but also _yours_ because you're part of the company. Now if you'll excuse me…" Rufus flipped his hair and turned away, proceeding to the door.

Before Rufus could twist the doorknob open, he felt Hojo's hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Hojo, holding his weapon of choice (a syringe) and his eyes flashing evilly from behind his spectacles. 

"Hahahahah!" 

-------------------

            "Kyah! Where's President Rufus! He has to see the execution. It's already waaaaay past the hour of their death!" Scarlet demanded frantically to the SOLDIERs who were standing by the gas chamber.

Hojo was just seated on one of the chairs by the gas chamber, laughing to himself… and nobody minded it because they're really used to seeing and hearing him just laughing all to himself.

But not Heidegger.

"GYAH! What's so funny?" he demanded impatiently.

Hojo just smiled calmly at him. "Calm down. Maybe he ate something bad for breakfast so he's still in the bathroom at this moment." He said.

Silence.

"Look, just go back to your lab and do your experiments. I don't like you in here. Gyah! You're creeping me out!" Heidegger said in annoyance.

"No can do, General Heidegger. President Rufus wished for my presence here. I cannot _disobey_ the young and valiant President. Hahahahaha." Hojo explained.

"KYah! Can somebody just look for President Rufus?!" Scarlet demanded from Heidegger.

"Gyah! You're ordering me?" Heidegger demanded.

"Yes I am. Because we're behind schedule!" she snapped.

"Tralala! I'll do it… in exchange for a bucket of lard later on for my tea break!" Palmer told them. Hojo just laughed at him. "I could use some pigs for my new experiment instead of using _bunny rabbits_ to inject JENOVA cells in it."  He pointed out.

"Quit talking about your farm animals, you old geezer." Heidegger snapped at him.

"Hahahahaha. What do you mean farm animals? You…" Hojo cleared his throat and began to sing in the tune of  Old MacDonald Had a Farm: "Old Heidegger had a farm; gya ha ha ha ha. And on his farm he had some…"

"Alright, alright. Enough! Kyah! You miserable old fools. Just go, Palmer." Scarlet said, pushing Palmer aside. The moment Palmer had gone, Hojo demanded from Heidegger with an angry look on his face, "Who were you calling _old geezer_?"

"Gyah! You were the one who has a lot of women! Maybe you just waited for Lucrecia to die so that…" Heidegger trailed off when Hojo just smiled dementedly at him. Heidegger just cleared his throat and looked away. "Never mind…" he muttered.

            For some reason, Palmer went over to Hojo's lab to check on what's inside first. He opened the lights and looked around for a few moments… and he jerked when he saw a small cage. An empty one. He freaked out. "Oh my! What if it's a horrible monster experiment and it escaped and it's gasp roaming around in here and eats me!?" he exclaimed in panic, but just as he was about to run, he calmed down a bit when he saw that the PC was on… and seated in front of the monitor and the keyboard was a small rabbit with white fur, some brownish-yellowish fur on top of its head and strangely, blue eyes.

Looking over the bunny rabbit's shoulder awkwardly, Palmer read whatever the bunny rabbit was 'reading' for itself. 'Curious. A revival potion?' thought Palmer. 'What a strange bunny rabbit… I didn't know that they could have blue eyes… I wonder how Hojo did this one?...' Then, an eviler thought entered his pudgy mind. 'Ooh… I'm suddenly craving for Rabbit Stew!!! Tralala! I'm sure Hojo wouldn't mind if I cook this one for myself… Tralala!!!' 

The bunny rabbit turned around with wide eyes when it realized that someone was behind it. It hopped off the computer table when it saw Palmer licking his lips and drooling like a hungry wolf… or in his case, pig.

But before Palmer could get the bunny rabbit, it hopped up, biting his nose.

"TRAAAAAHLALALA!!!" Palmer exclaimed in panic. "I'm gonna get rabies!" he pushed the bunny rabbit away from himself and ran out of the laboratory… leaving the door open.

            Tifa and Scarlet glared at each other for the ultimate face-off. 

"Kyah! You $#&!" Slap. 

Tifa gasped. And slapped her right back on one powdered-up cheek. 

Eyes widening, Scarlet slapped Tifa even harder. 

And the slapping ensued… 

Neither one of them noticed that there was an audience to their "slapping contest"… the white bunny rabbit. 

Scarlet backed off a little to ready herself for another attack from Tifa, but when she did so, she tripped and fell backward, surprising Tifa.

Tifa's eyes widened in shock… realizing that the oh-so-poised Scarlet tripped over… a bunny rabbit. Tifa could not decide whether to take it as an opportunity to run away already or wait for Scarlet to get up to see what she would do about the situation.

Scarlet's face turned as red as her dress in total embarrassment. "KYAH! You stupid bunny rabbit! Where the hell did you come from?!" she got up and kicked it, sending it flying up on the air and hit the wall.

Tifa gasped. "Oh my goodness! How could you do that to that poor animal! You #$%!" she attacked Scarlet again and gave her one last strong blow before she rushed over to the poor stunned bunny rabbit and attempted to get it and take it away from that horrible place, but the bunny rabbit suddenly moved away from her, its unusual blue eyes widening in shock before it turned its gaze angrily to Scarlet. It hopped quickly to Scarlet and jumped up and bit Scarlet's nose and scratched her face until it got wounds. "KYAH!!!!! EVIL RABBIT!!!!!" she screeched angrily as she grabbed it frantically and threw it away. Before the rabbit could hit the wall, Tifa caught it in her arms and ran off. "You poor creature… where did you come from? What are you doing in a place such as this one?" she asked gently as she continued to run. To her wonder, the rabbit was trying to escape from her grasp, but she did not allow it to do so. "Oh no you don't. I'm not leaving you here! That woman in red might kill you and turn you into rabbit stew!" she said with a sweet but stern tone.

            Scarlet was already crying rather pathetically because of her hurt face. She could see her reflection upon the shiny metal walls and the floors… and the more she would like to get her hands on the bunny rabbit… and also on Tifa Lockheart. "KYAH! Whoever has a rabbit… I think it belongs to her!!! I'm going to murder them the next time I see them! KYAH!" she screeched angrily. She was seated on the floor and crying her eyes out. She did not want to move and go after Tifa because someone might see her face. It really looked horrible and it was still bleeding because of the rabbit's bites and scratches and also because of Tifa slapping her face real hard.

"Gyah! What are you still doing here? The prisoners are already escaping, let's go after them!" Heidegger snapped at her as he came in rushing. He froze when he saw her face. "Wha… what? What happened to you?" he asked in awe.

"Kyah! Shut up! Just leave me here and go get them!" she shrieked before bawling again.

Heidegger scratched his head with a perplexed look on his face before he finally decided to leave her there. He would question her later.

            "Teef! Over here!" Barret called out from the Highwind as he let a rope down for her.

Tifa looked up at the Highwind and then grabbed the rope with her one hand, but afraid that the rabbit would fall down, she decided to just put it inside her sleeveless top… in the middle of her chest. "I'm sorry, little thing. But you wouldn't mind, right? We have to get away!" she spoke to it gently as she grabbed the rope with her two hands and began to climb up as the Highwind continued to fly away from ShinRa's base in Junon.

The rabbit was just frozen it its position, as if it cannot believe what was happening to itself. 

But Tifa was having a hard time dangling with the rope. "Barret! Some help, please!?" she called out. She was afraid that she might fall… and she's also afraid that the rabbit might jump off and fall into the sea and die. "Please don't jump off, I'm trying to hold on for the two of us," she spoke to it with assurance.

The rabbit looked up at her with its confused blue eyes. She smiled reassuringly at it, even though her crimson eyes reflected too much worry.


	2. Two

            Hojo was whistling a happy tune on his way back to his lab in Junon. The moment he reached the door, he froze… it was open. "Oh no!" he ran inside frantically and his eyes were wide in shock upon seeing that one of the cages were open and that his PC was also open. He began to feel enraged. "NO, NO NO!!!!! This is bad! He escaped!!!" he cried out in anger before rushing out of the laboratory, wanting to complain. "Who left the damn door open?!" he demanded angrily… and he stopped in his tracks. He remembered seeing his PC open. Alarmed, he rushed back inside the laboratory and went straight to his PC, disabled the screensaver and then stared at the monitor unbelievably. His eyes widened in too much shock before he yelled out a loud "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" which sent Heidegger and Palmer running to the laboratory together with some members of Second Class SOLDIER.

"What's going on?" Heidegger demanded.

Hojo frowned angrily. "Who left the door open?! Someone peeked into my files!" he snapped impatiently.

"Eh… I'm sorry but I…" Palmer began, but decided not to continue because he did not really want to start an argument with a person like Hojo. "Never mind… he might snap and kill me and turn me into specimen…" he just thought silently to himself before he turned away, "I have to go back to work," and ran off.

Hojo was scratching his head and turned back to the PC. "And one of my specimens had escaped!!!" he pointed out.

"Gyah…" Heidegger rolled his eyes. "What specimen is that?" he asked.

"It's a rabbit. Male. It's just a new one and I am planning to experiment on it by letting it mate with another organism with JENOVA cells in it!" Hojo explained. Then he laughed.

"Oh my goodness… You can just get a new rabbit from the pet shop downtown! I'm going back to my office and try to call President Rufus. Gyah! I wonder where he went to… I haven't seen him ever since this morning! And I can't believe he wasn't even there during the execution that did not even take place! Gyah! This is so annoying… He might get mad at us when he returns here because we weren't able to kill Lockheart and Wallace!" Heidegger was saying.

"Oh, mon Dieu, mon Dieu!!!" Scarlet was wailing in French as she entered rather dramatically, still crying, surprising the two men. "You… do you have any ointment?" she asked Hojo before bawling again, wanting them to feel sorry for her because of her condition. She just likes attention.

Hojo stared unbelievably at her before turning back to his PC and exited the program before deciding to shut it down. "Do not disturb me, I'm busy! Can't you see that I just lost a very important specimen?" he explained with a frantic look on his face.

"Now would you mind telling us what happened to your face and how that woman with big boobs escaped?" Heidegger demanded impatiently from her.

"Kyah! She wouldn't have escaped if it wasn't for that rabbit!" she shrieked angrily.

Hojo's mouth dropped open and his glasses almost slipped off down his nose, but he pushed it up in time before facing her, "What? Rabbit?" he asked.

"Kyah! I wonder where that damn rabbit came from! And that disgusting rodent also scratched my face and bit my nose!!!" she snapped impatiently. "Like it had a human mind!"

Hojo was just silent, looking so dumbfounded while Scarlet continued to blab to Heidegger about her experience. Hojo stepped forward, "Where is the rabbit now?" he asked.

"Kyah… is that damn rabbit yours? I swear I'm going to murder it and turn it into rabbit stew once you get it back here and…"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!" Hojo cried out impatiently before taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

She was stunned at first before answering softly, "The slut took it with her… because I think she felt pity on it… because I threw it at the wall."

Silence.

"YOU HURT THE RABBIT?!" Hojo demanded, his eyes reflecting too much surprise and disbelief.

"Yes…" Scarlet replied softly with a somewhat perplexed look on her face. "Anyway, do you have any ointment? My face is swelling, I can feel it!" she told him with an impatient tone.

Hojo just turned away, his eyes wide in confusion. He grabbed his head with his two hands and grabbed handfuls of his hair in a confused motion. "No… this is bad… what if… what if…" he closed his eyes for a while… and then calmed down before smiling dementedly and then faced them again with a poised bearing. "The ointment is in the medicine cabinet inside the bathroom…" he replied calmly, then switched his gaze to Heidegger. "I think you'd better start looking for President Rufus now. He could be in big trouble." He told him.

            "I think it's dead," Yuffie pointed out to Tifa as she poked the bunny rabbit's side, surprising it. Yuffie's face lit up in delight. "Oh! Heehee! It's still alive! Maybe it just got afraid of heights when you climbed up the Highwind!" she said joyfully.

Tifa scooped the bunny rabbit off the chair and cradled it in her arms rather dearly, "Aw, you frightened it again, Yuffie!" she said.

"Why would there even be a bunny rabbit in Junon?" Barret asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"Maybe it's Rufus's pet," Cid pointed out before laughing. For some reason, the rabbit's ears twitched and then it began to stare rather angrily at Cid."What's that #$%%$ varmint starin' at?! I oughtta turn that into rabbit stew…" he snapped impatiently. The bunny rabbit reacted at this remark by biting Cid's hand. Cid cussed again. 

Tifa frowned at him, "Leave it alone, Cid! It's just an innocent little animal! It wouldn't do anything bad to you, right, dearie?" she asked sweetly at the rabbit with a gentle smile on her face. She peered into its unusually blue eyes and then she giggled, "You're so cute! And you're so tiny too! I think I'd like to keep you as a pet!" she said happily, petting the rabbit.

"What?!" Barret asked in disbelief.

"What's wrong? I can't leave it behind! Scarlet would've killed it if I did!" she argued with a hurtful look on her face before smiling at the rabbit again, "I think I'll name you… hmm… I can't think of a name. Say, guys, can you suggest a name?" she asked.

"What about naming it Cloud since it's white?" Barret suggested with a glum look on his face.

Cloud just stared blankly at them.

Tifa shook her head, "Nah…" she told them.

"Can I see that?" Vincent got the rabbit with his claw, surprising it.

"Careful, Vincent," Tifa warned with a worried look on her face.

Vincent began to examine the rabbit, "It's a boy." He declared.

The rabbit jumped off from Vincent's grasp and hopped into a corner. 

Cloud got up and went to it, grabbing it by its ears, "It sure looks strange. I thought rabbits are either dark-eyed or red-eyed?" he asked.

"Cloud, be careful, you're hurting it!" Tifa said as she got up and went to Cloud and grabbed the rabbit off from his grasp and cradling it in her arms again. "Aww… you poor thing… did it hurt?" she asked gently as she softly caressed the rabbit's fur and its ears.

The rabbit just glared angrily at Cloud.

Cloud raised his eyebrow at it, "I don't think he likes me." He told them.

"It's just a #$%%$ animal, Strife. Don't pay much attention to it," Cid muttered.

Silence.

"I'll just go down for a while." Cloud told them. Barret, Cid and Yuffie were expecting that Tifa would demand why he's going or where in particular he is going… but she did not say anything. She was cradling the rabbit in her arms like a baby. She was even singing to it.

Vincent was still staring at the rabbit. "He has blue eyes," he pointed out.

Tifa giggled. "I know…" she said softly.

"Aw man… don't tell me you're trying to imagine that it's _him_?!" Yuffie demanded in disgust.

Tifa stared at her. "Who?" she asked cluelessly.

"Duh!" Yuffie said airily.

"The guy with spiky hair." Barret pointed out.

Tifa made a face, "Zack?" she asked in disbelief.

"CLOUD!" Barret, Yuffie and Cid all said in unison.

Silence.

Tifa blinked. "What made you think of that?" she asked in disbelief before giving the rabbit a kiss on its cheek. The rabbit stopped moving again but its eyes were wide as if it got stunned by the kiss. "He actually reminds me of another person… and that person isn't Cloud. Do you think Cloud even wears white? I don't think so." She told them with a sweet smile on her face before settling the rabbit on the floor to allow it to hop around the place for a while, but it did not move in its place. It was just frozen stiff in one area by her right foot. "Run along, _Ruff_y," she instructed it.

"Ruffy?" Yuffie asked in awe.

"Why the #$% did you name that #$%%$ varmint Ruffy?!" Cid demanded in shock.

"Because this rabbit came from ShinRa and he reminds me of Rufus so…" Tifa began, but Barret cut her off by laughing hysterically, "Oh my goodness. You found that rabbit in Junon and saved it from the evil clutches of Scarlet… what if it's an experiment gone bad from their laboratory?" he asked. "Or even… something infected with JENOVA!" 

"I don't think there's something wrong with the rabbit, Barret. Besides, don't you think that AVALANCHE should have a mascot?" Tifa asked with a sweet smile on her face before she picked up the rabbit again and cradled it in her arms, its face close to her chest. "Oh, you're so cute and you're so adorable!!! Heeheeheehee!" she giggled happily.

The rabbit was still frozen stiff.

Vincent stared at the stunned rabbit. He could have sworn it blushed underneath its snow-white fur. "There's something strange about that rabbit. It's not really acting like a rabbit…" Vincent told her.

"Don't be ridiculous, Vincent." Tifa told him before petting the bunny rabbit's head. "You like some food? Wait a minute…" she turned to her other companions, "We still haven't eaten… you think we could stop by some place where there is food for us and for Ruffy?" she asked.

"ShinRa's probably after us so it's best we all stay inside here for a while." Barret explained.

Silence.

"Tifa, you really have to let go of that rabbit. We can't take it with us if we're going to battle Sephiroth!" Barret instructed. "Do you think that… _Ruffy_ here could damage Sephiroth with its buck teeth of death?!" 

The rabbit glared. Barret stiffened when he saw it grit its teeth.

"But I don't want him to get harmed in case meteor hits! C'mon, can't I keep him? I promise he wouldn't get in the way of my work with this group." Tifa told him with a worried look on her face.

"Just keep that varmint away from my stuff." Cid muttered before he got up and left for a while.

"Well where are we going now?" Vincent asked Barret.

"I think we need to let Cloud rest in some safe place. He's been through a lot." Tifa explained.

 "Alright. Get him back inside and we'll go some place where we can stay without being inside this Highwind." Barret replied rather miserably after a moment of silence.

"You call him. I'll have to guard my Ruffy." She replied with a sweet smile on her face before she lifted the bunny rabbit until she was face to face with it, and then did the nose-to-nose with it while giggling cheerfully, and then kissed its forehead.

The rabbit froze again.

"I swear there's something wrong with that rabbit!" Vincent was telling himself quietly but just decided not to broadcast it.

-------------------------------------------------------------


	3. Three

            "Kyah! President Rufus is really nowhere to be found!!!" Scarlet was already panicking as she got out of Rufus's office. Heidegger was following closely behind her. "Gyah! What if he's just stuck somewhere?" he asked.

"Why would he even be stuck somewhere?" she asked ridiculously.

"Maybe he's just in his room, ma'am." Elena suggested with a weak smile on her face.

"Kyah! We've already checked his room. I tried calling his mobile phone but it's switched off!" Scarlet pointed out impatiently.

"What if he's stuck inside a gutter or a vent or…" Reno began to theorize, but Scarlet and Heidegger glared warningly at him. He just shut up and cleared his throat before turning to Elena. "Let's just search in the parking lot. Maybe he's just there." He told her before he grabbed her hand and led the way, leaving Heidegger and Scarlet together.

"Gyahahahaha! What if he went back to Midgar?" he asked.

"I called up the people in charge there and he's not there." Scarlet stopped walking and sighed heavily. "That does it, Heidegger. Go and tell your SOLDIERs to go and search for him!" she commanded.

"Gyah… yeah, sure. Though I really have this feeling that he has been kidnapped by AVALANCHE!" he replied with a frown on his face.

She was silent for a while before replying, "Hmm… come to think of it… that slut was in a hurry to leave…" she gasped as her eyes widened. "NO! Don't tell me she's got President Rufus in her grasp right now?! KYAH!!!!!" the more she panicked.

He stared unbelievably at her, "Aw, c'mon, Scarlet! Stop making a big fuss about that woman! So what if President Rufus desires…" he trailed off when he saw her glaring angrily at him. "Gyah…" he turned away with a glum look on his face.

She clenched her fists. "…d…desires? You mean… he _desires_ that slut?" she asked.

"Well I once… asked him what he thinks of the whole AVALANCHE thing… and he instantly asked about her name… I asked him why he's interested. He just flipped his hair and changed the subject." Heidegger explained.

Scarlet's face turned bright red in anger. "How can you be so sure?!" she demanded.

He turned to face her again with a weak smile on his face. "Gyah… just an instinct. I mean, he's a man, right? I'd do the same: ask about her and…" he blinked. "Oh my, Scarlet. What's wrong with your face? It's so red!" he told her with a look of awe on his face.

"KYAH!!!!!" she screeched angrily before she turned away, her eyebrow raised as she placed her hands on her hips. "KYAH! Haha! I knew it… I saw him looking at her and he couldn't get his eyes off her… and don't mind me asking, Heidegger, but what happened when he told her of their execution?" she asked.

He frowned slightly at her. "Huh?" he responded with a clueless look on his face.

She turned to him with a forced sweet smile on her face, "You were with him, right?" she asked with a tone that seemed to falter.

He thought for a while before he finally understood the situation. To insult her and further provoke her anger, he answered, "Oh he told her that if she doesn't sleep with him, he'd definitely push through with the execution. So she slept with him. But he wasn't satisfied so he asked for her to be executed. GYahahahahahaha!!!!!" he laughed heartily.

Scarlet was awestruck that she was not able to say anything. "He… he did what?!" she had managed to say after a few moments of silence.

He laughed mockingly at her, "Kidding! Gyahahahahahahaha! Gyah! Really now, Scarlet!? Gyahahahahaha! If I were really President Rufus, I'd take the girl and marry her… instead of getting attracted to a woman like you! Gyahahahahaha!!!!!" he insulted.

Scarlet gave him her deadliest glare….

            Hojo was already eating his dinner with Palmer and Rude in the dining area of the ShinRa HQ in Junon when Heidegger entered with a sore face.

"What happened to you?" Palmer asked in awe.

Heidegger uttered a curse before he sat down and slouched on his seat, "Scarlet should really cut her nails." He told them.

Palmer and Hojo exchanged blank glances at each other before the latter turned to Heidegger and asked, "She slapped your face, I reckon?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Heidegger cried out impatiently before he reached for Rude's plate and grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes with his hand and shoved it inside his mouth, chewing like an uncivilized creature. 

Rude did not move.

Hojo just stared seriously at Heidegger. "You've found the rabbit?" he asked.

"Huh?" Heidegger asked, glancing at him.

Hojo's eyes widened for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Have you found Rufus yet?" he asked, trying to maintain a calm exterior.

"I think AVALANCHE kidnapped him." Heidegger replied with a miserable look on his face.

Hojo just kept quiet. "Hmf… I'll just be in my laboratory," he told them before he got up, not wanting to finish his meal anymore. The moment he left, Heidegger spoke up to Palmer, "I tell you, this situation's really worsening… what if Sephiroth attacks and we can't handle him?"

"You mean we can't do anything without President Rufus?" Palmer asked with a worried look on his face.

"Well… I…" Heidegger stammered. He did not want to appear dumb when in front of battle… even though he is the General, he still lacked a lot of skills. He just sat up straight and pounded on the table, "Well, we can do it even without President Rufus's command!" he reassured.

Rude just rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses.

            Four in the morning; they arrived in Icicle Inn three hours ago. It was pretty hard to rent rooms where they could spend the night because of their current situation. Luckily, because of the little money they have, they were able to rent some rooms. However, some of them had to share. 

Cloud and Tifa were in one room… with the bunny rabbit.

Yuffie, Red XIII and Cid Highwind were altogether in one room; while Vincent was with Barret and Cait Sith.

Cloud still couldn't sleep. Somehow, he felt so disturbed… like an enemy is just around the corner, ready to attack. He was on the floor, since Tifa didn't want him to sleep on the bed beside her. Instead, the rabbit was beside her.

Yet he did not think that it was unfair because it's colder when you're on the bed… for some reason he couldn't understand. "Maybe the heater system's under the floor…" he was thinking quietly. 

He heard Tifa move.

Then he felt something land on his chest. Cloud adjusted his vision in the dimness of the room and saw the strange bunny rabbit seated on his chest and staring hard at him. He raised his eyebrows at the bunny rabbit. "Did she push you off the bed or did you jump down?" he asked.

The rabbit wiggled its nose.

Cloud smiled slightly for a moment, and then he mentally slapped himself. "Dammit. Don't tell me you're beginning to like this rodent here?!" he was scolding himself quietly.

The rabbit began to sniff him. He frowned at it and grabbed it by its ears, sending it back to Tifa… but he just threw it over on the bed.

The rabbit landed on her chest and it stiffened. Tifa sleepily opened her eyes and smiled at the rabbit, "Oh, hey Ruffy," she said sweetly before she grabbed it and kissed it and then placed it beside her, hugging it. And she fell asleep again.

Cloud wondered what the rabbit was doing, so he slowly sat up and observed it. Its eyes were wide and it wasn't moving. He frowned as he stared deep into the rabbit's blue eyes.

The rabbit turned to him. Cloud made a face and then lied back down again, sighing with a confused look on his face. After thinking things through, he got up and grabbed the rabbit. The rabbit tried to squirm away from him, but he was holding on to it tightly as he got out of the room and made his way down the hallway of the hotel and knocked on the door of the bedroom where Vincent is located.

The rabbit scratched his hand with its claws. He winced in pain but still managed to hold on to it. After a few moments, Vincent Valentine opened the door. He didn't look sleepy at all. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"There really is something wrong with this rabbit," Cloud told him as he raised it close to Vincent's face. The rabbit sniffed Vincent's nose and then bit it.

"OW!" Vincent reacted before he grabbed it and stared unbelievably at it. "I have a feeling that this is one of Hojo's experiments…" he said softly as he examined it. His eyes narrowed at it, "It's a boy." He said.

Cloud raised his eyebrows. "How did you know?" he asked.

"Its got the male reproductive organ of a male rabbit." Vincent pointed out with a blank look on his face.

The rabbit began to squirm away from Vincent's grasp, but he still held on to it. "Can I see?" Cloud asked, wanting to be sure.

Vincent lifted the rabbit carefully for Cloud to see. To their surprise, the rabbit's ears turned very red and twitched violently. Before Cloud could see, it managed to get out of Vincent's grasp and attacked Cloud's face by scratching it. Then, it hopped out into the hallways. 

"What the hell's with that rabbit?!" Cloud growled as he chased after it, not caring if his face felt sore because of the scratches; however, he was silently thankful that its claws aren't sharp enough.

"Maybe it's insulted that you're staring at his… _thing_," Vincent answered awkwardly as he followed Cloud. 

"What's wrong with looking at an animal's dick?!" Cloud demanded in confusion.

Vincent raised his eyebrows at him, "Come on, Cloud, I'm sure you wouldn't want another guy staring at yours?" he asked inquiringly.

Cloud just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, maybe we should've let Tifa stare at it for us." He muttered before deciding to go after the rabbit. He frowned. "Where is it going anyway?" 

Somehow, the rabbit managed to hop high enough to press the down button of the elevator. By the time Cloud and Vincent reached him, the elevator doors opened. 

The bunny rabbit looked up at them determinedly. 

"I… think it wants to ride the elevator," Vincent said. 

"Oh no, he won't! He's going back to Tifa. If she wakes up and finds him gone, she might freak out and blame me for it." Cloud declared before he tried to pick up the rabbit, but it hopped away from him, going further inside the elevator.

The rabbit's right ear bent a bit, pointing to one specific button: (L). The Lobby. Frowning, Vincent pressed the L button before he stepped inside and took Cloud with him. "Vincent, what the…" Cloud began but Vincent signaled him to stop talking. He froze.

The elevator door closed and began to move down.

After waiting for a few moments, it opened and the rabbit led the way out of it, going to the receptionist's desk. The receptionist had fallen asleep on her job, but the PC was still open. The rabbit climbed up the receptionist's lap and the quickly climbed up on the computer table.

To Cloud and Vincent's amazement, the rabbit knew how to function a mouse… and the keyboard. It opened a word processing program and then turned back to the two men who were watching it in amazement.

Cloud and Vincent moved closer to the computer as the rabbit began to type:

I AM RUFUS

Silence.

"Well, Tifa _did_ name him after Rufus, right?" Cloud asked absentmindedly.

The rabbit seemed to shake its head in disagreement and Vincent could tell that it was beginning to become impatient as it began to type again with its paws:

I AM RUFUS SHINRA… DAMMIT!

Cloud and Vincent stared dumbly at the screen. Rufus' ears twitched in annoyance.  Cloud smiled, pleased, "Hojo must've done something good to that rabbit! It can type…" he began.

"And it cusses too," Vincent said with a sarcastic smile, finally getting the situation. He saw the rabbit pound its left paw on the desk and began to type again:

YOU ARE SUCH A MORON, CLOUD STRIFE!

Cloud froze. "?! I think it _is_ Rufus!!!" he said in shock.

The rabbit calmed down a bit before typing more stuff:

CAN YOU HELP ME?

Cloud felt rather confused. "Rufus ShinRa would ask help from AVALANCHE? That is so… not him. Maybe that rabbit's been brainwashed by Hojo and made it think that it's Rufus," he told Vincent.

"No… I think… that is really Rufus." Vincent said while staring down at one particular part of the desk. Cloud looked down on the table and saw an evening tabloid with the headlines, "_ShinRa__ President: MISSING!_"

"Ooooh…" Cloud and Vincent said in unison. "I get it now! Hojo must have done something to Rufus… And Mr. President here escaped… and then he found his way to Scarlet and Tifa!" Cloud concluded. 

YOU ARE A GENIUS 

"Are you sarcastic?! Because you know, I learned how to cook rabbit stew from Sephiroth from way back in SOLDIER days." Cloud pointed out with a loud voice.

The receptionist had awoken from her slumber because of his loud voice, but Vincent cast some sleep on her, so she fell asleep again. This time, she fell towards the floor and landed on it with a thud, but she was still sleeping rather soundly.

"We have to hurry. There could be surveillance cameras here. If someone sees us, they'll think we're crazy coz we're talking to a rabbit." He told Cloud.

THERE ARE NO SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS HERE. THIS HOTEL IS SO LOW-CLASSED, JUST LOOK AT THE ROOM WHERE YOU PLACED ME AND TIFA!

"You mean, you, Tifa… and me." Cloud corrected with a sly smile on his face, wanting to anger the rabbit. It's nice to take advantage of little ones, isn't it?

SHUT UP. JUST GO TO HOJO AND GET THE REVERSE POTION SO THAT I CAN BE HUMAN AGAIN.

"Reverse potion?" Vincent asked.

"But you're harmless as a rabbit so why bother turning you back into a human again? And how would you think Tifa would react if she finds out that her beloved little Ruffy's gone?" Cloud asked.

OH PISH POSH, STRIFE! WHO CARES ABOUT HER FEELINGS? SHE CAN JUST BLAME YOU FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HER _RUFFY_ AND  KILL YOU… AND I CAN BUY HER ANOTHER BUNNY RABBIT AS A GIFT FOR HER NEXT BIRTHDAY AND THAT IS IN….?

"May 3." Vincent replied.

Cloud nudged him with a frown on his face, "Vincent, don't! He might do something stupid!" he warned in a whisper.

IF YOU HELP ME TURN BACK INTO A HUMAN, I WILL TELL YOU HOW TO BRING YOUR SWEETHEART BACK HERE.

Cloud froze.

AERITH.

Cloud looked at him skeptically. "You… a president-turned-rabbit… would know how to revive…" he trailed off. The lump in his throat was worsening. 

He could have sworn that Rufus' innocent rabbit face smirked. 

YOU'LL FIND THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS IN HOJO'S LAB. LIKE REVIVAL FORMULAS. 

"But how will I get… get Aerith from below the lake where I…" Cloud trailed off when Rufus began to type again.

YOU BURIED HER IN A LAKE?! YOU MORON! SHE'LL BE FISH FOOD!

Cloud frowned at him. "So it's useless even if you give me the revival formula," he told him.

IT WILL BE HARD BUT IT'S STILL POSSIBLE.

Vincent thought for a while before replying, "What if she's alive, but her eyes are missing and parts of her face are… already rotting…" he trailed off when he saw Cloud staring frustratingly at him. "Never mind…" Vincent said, crossing his arms.

Cloud turned back to Rufus. "What do you mean it's still possible?" he asked.

TRUST ME, OKAY? I WON'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL YOU GET ME THE REVERSE POTION. NOW GO!

"We'll do it, if you promise to help us against Sephiroth too." Vincent told him conditionally.

The rabbit did not move for a while, and then began to type again.

SURE.

==============================================


	4. Four

The next day, upon waking up from his disturbed 3-hour slumber, Cloud was pushed out of the room by Tifa.

"I'm dressing up. Sorry Cloud." She said before she shut the door in his face.

He groggily scratched his head before plopping down on the floor of the hallway and decided to sleep there… but he forced himself to wake up again when he recalled that Vincent still has not returned…

Vincent carefully scanned the area in Junon where most of the Soldiers were concentrated. "This is going to be hard…" he thought silently with a deep frown on his face before he jumped into another place where he could hide himself within the shadows of the tall buildings within the area.

Tifa decided that she needs to take a bath so she left her clothes on the bed for a while and rushed to the bathroom to take a warm shower.

Her singing inside the shower eventually disturbed the slumber of Rufus, the bunny rabbit. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling so frustrated. He became annoyed by the singing, but eventually found it to be pleasing to the ears so he just decided to close his eyes and go to sleep again while snuggled close to the warm comforter on the bed. The singing would eventually make him feel relaxed… until he realized that the sound was coming closer and he could hear footsteps approaching the bed. He opened his eyes and they widened in shock as he stiffened.

"Oh, you're awake! Heehee! Good morning, Ruffy!" she greeted cheerfully.

"NO! Why are you wearing _that_?!?!?" Rufus was saying in rabbit language (which obviously cannot be heard by humans). She was only wearing a bath towel.

She patted his head. "I'm sure you're very hungry?" she asked. The rabbit was just stiff, staring wide-eyed at her. She chuckled. "We'll eat breakfast, don't worry. I'll give you some carrots too. Heehee. But I have to dress up first and then we'll go to the dining area." She said before she dropped the towel on the floor.

Rufus wanted to die.

Tifa had her back to him as she began to get dressed, and when she was done, she turned around to face him again and saw that his nose is bleeding and his ears are so red. Her eyes widened in surprise as she gasped, "Oh my! What's wrong with you?" she asked as she scooped him up in her arms, close to her chest, embracing him tightly as she rushed to the door, "Cloud!" she called out.

Cloud jerked and immediately stood up from the floor where he had fallen asleep. He stared at the rabbit, then at Tifa.

She had this worried look on her face, "I think there's something wrong with my Ruffy… his nose is bleeding!" she said before examining the rabbit herself. "I don't think rabbits are prone to nosebleeds if it's too cold… but…" she began to wipe the blood away from its nose.

Cloud frowned slightly as he eyed the rabbit suspiciously, "What did you do before you saw that his nose is bleeding?" he asked.

"I was in the shower and then I got dressed." She replied innocently.

He stared in awe at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

"In front of Rufus… I mean, Ruffy?" Cloud asked in awe.

"He's just a rabbit. He wouldn't understand the concept of nakedness." She told him with a silly smile on her face before examining Ruffy's face. "Awww… please don't get sick. I'll die if you do! … MWAH!" she kissed its forehead. The more it stiffened.

Cloud shook his head in disbelief. "Sorry, Prez… can't do anything about it. She loves ya!" he was thinking silently with a weak smile on his face. "Well… his nose stopped bleeding already. I think he feels better now." He declared as he gently patted the rabbit's head, but it squirmed and tried to bite his hand. Cloud withdrew his hand from the rabbit. "And I think it still hates me…" he said with a glum look on his face.

"Don't be ridiculous, Cloud. Maybe you just surprised him that's why he tried to bite you. You should try touching him gently next time," Tifa said with a wink.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh really now? How are you sure that that's a _male_ rabbit again?" he asked with an innocent tone.

Tifa thought for a while before lifting the rabbit up so that she could take a peek at its reproductive organ. The rabbit began to squirm against her grasp and its ears really turned bright red. "It is a boy, Cloud." She pointed out. "I mean, it's got balls!" she said.

Cloud bit his lower lip to stop himself from snickering.

Tifa checked the rabbit's ears and she gasped. "Oh my goodness! Why are your ears so red, Ruffy?" she asked in worry.

"Just go inside and take care of your bunny while I go check on Barret and the others," Cloud said before he pushed her inside the room again and then shut the door. He thought for a while before he opened the door again and peeked inside, "Oh yeah, and don't go nude in front of Rufus… I mean, Ruffy… he might have another nosebleed!" and then shut the door immediately before Tifa could glare angrily at him. He laughed softly before heading for Barret's quarters. He did not consider knocking; he just barged in. "Alright, who's awake?" he announced.

Barret immediately sat up on the bed, surprised at Cloud's sudden entry. "What the… ya foo'!" he snapped angrily.

Cloud stopped and he totally forgot why he entered Barret's room. He saw that Cait Sith was still resting on the floor by the window.

Barret instantly got up and collared Cloud, "Whazzamattah wit ya?! Can't you see that I lack sleep?!" he demanded impatiently.

Cloud pushed him away. "Hey, keep cool. I'm just wondering where Vincent is." He said before stepping out of the room again. He almost forgot that Vincent had volunteered to go to Junon to get the reverse potion. As soon as he was in the hallway again, he saw Tifa going to the elevator with the rabbit in her arms. She was gently singing, "I love my Ruffy… I love my Ruffy… Oh yes, I do… Heeheeheehee!" she even giggled cheerfully before holding the rabbit up to her face and stared at its blue eyes lovingly. "You're so cute… what if I kiss you right now and you turn into a real person? Will you love me too? Heeheeheehee?" she asked playfully before kissing its forehead.

Cloud saw that the rabbit's ears became very red again and he just pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing at Rufus's current situation as he approached them. As soon as the elevator door opened, he greeted her, "Hey, Teef."

She turned to him and smiled sweetly. "Hello, Cloud." She said.

Cloud stared curiously at her, trying to read her thoughts through the smile on her face and the look in her eyes as they stepped inside the elevator. He knew that she had liked him ever since childhood… and there would always be a look in her eyes that seemed to reveal to him that secret even if she would never tell him. Frankly speaking, he had liked her too… but had forgotten about it as soon as he left for Soldier. For some reason he could not understand, his mother's words kept on whirling around his thoughts about the girl that he should marry. Someone older than him. And he remembered Aerith. He instantly looked away from Tifa, feeling guilty about the situation. For all he knew, she could be a spirit roaming around and hanging around by his side, observing his behavior and reading his thoughts… and she could have read that he liked Tifa before and get jealous…

"Reading my thoughts?" he thought mindlessly as the door closed. He bowed down his head and shoved his hands inside his pockets rather uncomfortably. "Aerith… if this rabbit can bring you back to me, I swear I'm going to…" he trailed off when he realized that he was thinking out loud… and mumbling it.

"Going to what?" Tifa asked curiously.

Cloud jerked and turned red. "I… nothing…" he said.

She just smiled at him, "It's okay, Cloud. You can tell me everything." She said while stroking the bunny rabbit's fur. Cloud eyed the rabbit and it had a relaxed look on its face, like it's enjoying the way Tifa is stroking its fur.

They reached the lobby and went to the small breakfast lounge. As soon as they were seated and had their orders taken, she spoke up to him, "I… know that you love Aerith, Cloud."

His eyes widened at her.

She bowed down her head for a while, looking at the rabbit on sleeping on her lap, and then turned back to Cloud again with a sweet smile on her face, "Screw the promise. It's time for the two of us to move on. Besides, maybe it was never really meant to be. I mean… you need… someone else. Someone like Aerith. And me? I…" she trailed off when Cloud cut her off, "I'm sorry, Tifa." He told her.

The rabbit opened its eyes and looked up at Tifa.

She smiled and nodded her head. She sighed heavily. "Although I'll always wish that there would be someone like you… or better… who would sweep me off my feet." She admitted while blushing. Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized that the bunny rabbit was staring up at her. She giggled and picked it up, lifting it up to her face and kissing its nose before embracing it lovingly.

Cloud smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Tifa… I'm sure there would be someone more suitable for you. But I'll always be your best friend and don't forget that I'm here just in case that _jerk_ does something bad to you." He told her reassuringly while eyeing the rabbit with a warning look on his face.

She was surprised at what he had just mentioned. She smiled. "Yes, Cloud. Thank you. I guess that's what you have always been… a best friend." Her smile widened as she turned back to the bunny rabbit. "And I think I feel better now… and I like it that way. Right, Ruffy-darling? Heeheeheehee!" she giggled happily and kissed the rabbit's nose again.

Cloud just smiled sourly while eyeing the rabbit's reddened ears. "Eheheh… You'd better stop kissing that thing. Don't you know that rabbits are prone to fungus growing on their noses?" he asked.

She blinked. "No. I've never had a bunny before." She replied before she stared at the rabbit's nose. "I don't see anything funny about his nose… except that it's pink." She said.

Cloud gasped. "THAT'S THE FUNGUS!" he exclaimed, enjoying the horrified look on the rabbit's face and also on Tifa's face, and then laughing. "Kidding." He pointed out.

Tifa just kept quiet, staring curiously at him. "What is wrong with you?" she asked in awe.

Cloud just kept on laughing before he got up from his seat. "I think I need some air…" he said before he mindlessly wiped some tears away from his eyes. Tifa noticed that he was already crying… but she did not say anything. The rabbit was looking at him with a curious stare.

"Cloud, are you alright?" she asked with concern.

Cloud stared at the rabbit, ignoring the question. "Gee… your rabbit's ears are red. Here, let me take it out for some air first." He said, grabbing Ruffy from Tifa. She hesitated for a while but slowly let go. As she parted with the rabbit, a lot of thoughts suddenly entered her mind… things from the past… and their present situation. And her smile faded away as she watched Cloud head out to the lobby with the rabbit, leaving her alone there.

She bowed down her head, looking sadly at her hands resting on her lap. "Why do I feel so lonely all of a sudden…" she mumbled softly.

For some reason, the receptionist was still sleeping and snoring soundly, so Cloud took advantage of the situation and let the rabbit go to the PC and type.

WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CRYING?

Cloud just stared at the words on the monitor before replying, "It doesn't matter. Are you sure that you're not tricking me?"

TRICK YOU ABOUT WHAT?

"About Aerith coming back. You said you know how to bring her back!" he replied.

OH THAT. YES, YES, I REMEMBER… THERE'S ANOTHER FORMULA… A REVIVING POTION.

"She has to drink it?"

NO. YOU HAVE TO DRINK IT. HOJO HAS THE FORMULA AND IT'S COMPOSED OF HERBAL LEAVES FOUND IN COSMO CANYON PLUS JENOVA CELLS AND MAKO. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE HE PLACED IT.

He stared unbelievably at him. "Me? But… I'm not dead!" he replied.

I'VE READ IT SOMEWHERE IN HIS FILES THAT IF YOU DRINK IT, YOU WILL BE IN A STATE OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS WHEREIN YOU MIGHT APPEAR DEAD… BUT YOU WILL BE IN ANOTHER CONSCIOUSNESS… LIKE IN THE LIFESTREAM OR IN THE PROMISED LAND… I'M NOT SURE. BUT WHEN YOU REACH IT, YOU MUST FIND HER WITHIN A GIVEN TIME ALLOTMENT OF ABOUT 100 HOURS, AND TAKE HER BACK WITH YOU.

Cloud was about to say something else, but he realized that Barret was approaching them from the elevator. He instantly grabbed the rabbit and began to pat its head like he is petting it before exiting the word processor program. "Hey, Barret." He greeted.

Barret eyed Cloud curiously. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Cloud thought for a while on why his friend asked that question before nodding frantically. "Y…yeah. I am fine. Heheh…" he replied rather uneasily.

Barret just blinked and eyed the rabbit. "Where's Teef?" he asked.

Cloud swallowed hard, "She's having breakfast…"

"And where's Vincent?" Barret asked.

Silence.

Cloud handed the rabbit to Barret, "Here, take him back to Teef. I'll just go upstairs. I don't feel so good." He lied before rushing to the elevator, leaving his friend and the rabbit perplexed.

Hojo had fallen asleep by his PC, not even noticing that someone had intruded his laboratory in Junon.

Vincent scanned the whole area. It still looked the same as it did before… only messier. Frowning and approaching Hojo, he began to think of ways to get Hojo's hand off the mouse, but he could not think of any easy way. "This guy's a light sleeper… one wrong move and he'll wake up… I guess I'll just have to…" he reached for the keyboard and just decided to do the keyboard shortcuts, since the mouse is not accessible for him. He opened the file where Hojo's potions and formulas are listed alphabetically and where he could find it.

He activated FIND and typed carefully _Reverse Potion_ and pressed enter.

The computer began to search.

Hojo grunted. "Mrrrpgh… She's mine, damn you…" he mumbled in his sleep, making Vincent too nervous that he forgot to breathe as he stared wide-eyed at Hojo.

When Hojo did not move, Vincent turned to the PC again… it was still searching. "Rats…" he thought in annoyance. It must be an old computer that's why it's too slow already.

And to his horror, a computerized voice spoke up upon displaying the result: "_Found: One. Reverse Potion. Cabinet 57. Drawer 7. Midgar Laboratory. Would you like to make another search?_"

Hojo instantly woke up. "Huh?!" he jerked up, standing in surprise.

Vincent jumped backwards, but his left hand hit some test tubes, making those crash to the ground. Hojo instantly turned around to look at him. Both were surprised.

Hojo gasped in annoyance, "YOU!!!!! You're still alive?! How the hell did you get out of your coffin?!" he demanded angrily.

Vincent was unable to speak. He does not know where to begin… shall he kill him right then and there? Or make him talk and ask questions? Or simply escape? Or answer Hojo's question? Or ask about Lucrecia?

Confused he just decided to run off, but Hojo instantly threw a sleep bomb at him.

Vincent covered his own nose, so he was able to escape… but the fumes were stuck to his cape and to his hair and clothes… all over the exposed areas of his body…

He began to feel drowsy, until he could not go on anymore and just fell backward, staring up at the ceiling. A few moments later, Hojo came into view holding a syringe. "Hello there, Vincent. You were just in my nightmare moments ago… you took Lucrecia from me there. Now, as revenge, here is another nightmare for you." He said with a mocking tone before injecting something into Vincent's bloodstream.

Vincent frowned at him. "No…" he had managed to say before he closed his eyes… but he could not fall asleep. Hojo's other experiments with him must have made him immune to sleep bombs… and he just felt drowsy… But he felt a shrinking feeling…

Forcing himself to open his eyes, he instantly got back to his feet again and rushed away from Hojo. "Hahahahaha! Come back here, you…" Hojo commanded, but Vincent kept on running.

He got out of the laboratory, rushing to the nearest door out and then kept on running until he reached an alley. He was panting heavily. "That was close…" he thought miserably… and he was just surprised when he felt that someone was lifting him up.

"What are you doing in a place like this?" asked a familiar voice.

Vincent stared at the face of the person who just lifted him up. His red eyes widened in shock. "SEPHIROTH?!"

Sephiroth stared curiously at the black bunny rabbit with red eyes and a red bandanna around its head. He smiled slyly at it before he decided to inspect if it is a boy or a girl (you know how to inspect it). He raised an eyebrow. "Whoa. A boy." He mumbled before looking at the bunny rabbit's face.

Vincent wanted to die. "Oh no… oh no… bloody hell… this cannot be… I'm just dreaming… I'll wake up and then I'll be back in my old form again… no… no… no…" he was thinking quietly.

Vincent Valentine has turned into a bunny rabbit.

Sephiroth patted the bunny rabbit's head. "I think I like you. I've always wanted a rabbit for a pet when I was a child, but Hojo wouldn't let me have one." He told him with a weird look on his face that made Vincent want to faint.

_"Daddy, can I have a pet? A pet bunny rabbit?" Baby Sephiroth asked Hojo. _

_"Hahahahah!__ No! SOLDIER's secret weapon cannot have bunny rabbits!" Hojo had answered Sephiroth. Then he injected more chemicals in his bloodstream._

Snapping out of his traumatized childhood memories, Sephiroth grunted. "I'll show Hojo. I shall destroy Planet! And only I and… and…" he trailed off, realizing that the rabbit has no name yet.

He brought up the rabbit to his face, inspecting its eyes and the red bandanna around its head. "You remind me of someone…" he thought before saying, "Alright, I'll name you Vinny! Anyway…. Only I and Vinny shall survive the destruction! Muahahahahah!"

Vincent wanted to scream. But he wasn't sure if rabbits were able to scream, so he just moved his loose red bandanna over his eyes, and drooped his ears.

With that, Sephiroth walked away with the rabbit in his grasp.

=================================================  
General Quistis's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Really appreciate it... and thanks for pointing out the correction in the spelling of the title. my Spanish teacher would kick me if she sees the wrong spelling. heheh. ;)

Anyway, chapter 5's coming up...


	5. Five

            Cloud was lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling and generally just being lost in his thoughts when Barret unceremoniously entered the room and dropped the rabbit next to him. "Sorry, Cloud, can't find Teef. Don't wanna hang around that ball of fluff, it just hates me." With that, Barret went out of the room.

The rabbit hopped up on Cloud's belly and glared angrily at him.

"What now?" Cloud said, sighing in frustration.

Rufus looked around the room and found a shred of red cloth. He held it between his teeth and showed it to Cloud.

Cloud stared at it questioningly. "… What?" he asked, not catching his drift.

He could have sworn that the cute bunny rabbit gritted its teeth. Awkwardly, the rabbit draped the cloth over his back.

"You're cold? Huh?" Cloud asked, but Rufus managed to claw his face in frustration. "Oh… claw… you're talking about Vincent?"

The rabbit nodded.

"I don't know where he is! I tried contacting him by PHS, but he wouldn't answer my calls," Cloud answered irritably. "He might have to go to some remote region without a signal. I've sent him a message anyway, so just be patient…"

Rufus gave him a look that meant, "I'm not fond of waiting."

"Live with it, Prez," Cloud answered. Rufus bit his pinky in response. Cloud yelped in pain and agony, but the rabbit won't let go. "AAARGH! Stop it… ow! Rufus ShinRa, let go of my pinky! Ow!!!" he was screaming in panic.

"Cloud! What did you call my Ruffy?!" Tifa exclaimed as she came out from the bathroom.

Cloud froze and he even fell off the bed, almost squishing the rabbit. Tifa was surprised, "Oh, Ruffy! Darling!" she went over to Cloud. He reached out a hand to her in hopes that she would help him up, but she just stooped down and picked up the dizzy rabbit, cradling it in her arms. "Oh, Ruffy… shh… it's alright. Tiffy's here. Aww… What did that monstrous Cloud do to you, huh, darling? Aww… poor Ruffy…" she said with mixed worry, concern and sadness.

Cloud glared unbelievably at the rabbit. He thought he saw Rufus stick out his tongue at him. Cloud sneered and got up on his own. "Ouch… man, Teef! You'd better keep that little rodent away from me! I might turn him into rabbit stew!" he snapped in annoyance before plopping down on the bed.

"What? How could you say that?! It's just a poor innocent little bunny rabbit! If I didn't save him from the evil clutches of Scarlet, he'd be dead by now… I… couldn't let that happen to him." Tifa said before sitting down by the foot of the bed, patting the rabbit's head gently. "Well if you don't like Ruffy, then just stay away from him. I'm not forcing you to take care of him anyway." She mumbled. Cloud could see that the rabbit was already stiffening because she was hugging it too close to her chest. Frowning, he asked, "Honestly, Tifa… why did you name him Ruffy?"

She giggled. "He reminded me of someone. I mean, look at the white fur all over his body and the yellow fur on top of his head. Don't you think he… reminds you of… Rufus?" she asked.

Silence.

"Rufus who?" Cloud asked innocently, pretending not to care or know anything at all.

She rolled her eyes as she giggled ridiculously, "Rufus ShinRa! What's the matter with you? Did you hit your head and cannot remember who wears so much white it's like you're seeing heaven in hell?" she asked playfully.

"Oh… I see…" Cloud nodded with a silly smile on his face, observing and enjoying the reaction that the bunny rabbit had displayed when Tifa was explaining. The bunny rabbit suddenly twitched its ears and wiggled its nose curiously while staring up at her.

"It would be nice if Rufus would be nicer just like this rabbit." Tifa told him before kissing the rabbit.

The rabbit's ears turned scarlet red again, surprising Tifa. "Oh my… here it goes again." She muttered.

Cloud just burst out laughing. She eyed him curiously, "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

He bit his lower lip and just looked up at the ceiling. "Nothing, Teef. I… guess I just had too much sweets for breakfast… like… too much sugar in my cocoa?" he asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, you didn't even eat breakfast!" she told him before she got up. "By the way, where's Vincent?" she asked.

"Why are you looking for him?" he asked.

"Well… nothing. I just didn't see him the whole morning. And Barret's also looking for him." She explained.

Silence.

"Maybe he just went outside to—uh—ski free, or something. Hehe," Cloud said, mentally kicking himself for coming up with such a lame answer.

Tifa blinked, skeptical. "Vincent? Skiing? He shouldn't be taking this long, right? I haven't seen him since last night, actually…"

"The… abominable snowman got him?" Cloud wanted to say out loud, but changed his mind. Instead, he said, "Maybe he decided to do some snowboarding and tour around this place too."

Tifa frowned, but nodded. "Well… as long as he isn't abducted by the enemy, I guess…"

If only she knew…

Shrugging, she headed for the bathroom. Cloud's eyes widened, "Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"I think my skirt's inverted. I need to fix it… and there's something wrong with my brassiere." She said with an embarrassed look on her face.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "I… see… and you're taking the rabbit with you?" he asked.

The rabbit tried to squirm away from her grasp, but Tifa held on tighter to it. She nodded cheerfully. "Uh-huh! I'm giving him a bath too! Heehee! Yuffie said that to avoid fungus, I need to give him a bath." She said before entering the bathroom.

Cloud waited for around five seconds before he heard Tifa exclaim, "Oh my goodness! Your nose is bleeding again!"

He sighed heavily. "Oh well…" he muttered before yawning.

            Back in the laboratory in Junon, Hojo organized the chemicals that Vincent had toppled over. "That Valentine… Since he didn't want to die, he has to suffer a fate worse than death! Hahahah…" he trailed off when he saw something glow in Vincent's pile of clothes on the floor.

He rummaged through the cape, the clothes, the decapitated metal claw, the undergarments (Hojo cringed, and thought of more blackmailing ideas for Vincent). Finally, he found what he was looking for.

His glasses flashed as he held the PHS unit in his hand. _Where are you? Answer the phone. _One of the messages from Cloud read. _Hurry up. We might leave the inn soon. _

This message, however, caused Hojo to cringe even more. _Rufus is getting impatient. Are you OK? Call back._

            Vincent would have made a face in utter disgust… that is, if he was able to make disgusted faces as a rabbit.

The reason would be the fact that Sephiroth was petting him, squeezing him, making faces and baby noises, and cuddling him as if he were a very cute baby… or a very huggable bunny rabbit, which he is for the moment.

"Ooh, look at you, cutie Vinny baby! Aboochieboochieboochieboochie!" Sephiroth said, petting his brand new pet 'that followed him home'.

Vincent made it a point _not _to make any more cute actions… he did _not _want Sephiroth act like a total idiot in front of him when he accidentally yawned (which was a very cute action indeed.). As he thought, his ears twitched.

"Aaaw… your cute little ears twitched again!" Sephiroth said, petting him again. Vincent's still-red eyes widened.

Sephiroth's facial expression suddenly changed. "Muahahah… Soon, Vinny… Since the Black Materia is still with that Cloud Strife, I'm going to get it from him… and we'll both destroy the Planet! Mwahahahahaha!" he explained while laughing victoriously.

Vinny the rabbit's eyes widened even more, eyeing Sephiroth in disbelief. "Oh no… I can't help Cloud… I'll be stuck here… if only I can escape…" his ears drooped and his bunny exterior showed too much grief and sadness that had been easily noticed by his owner.

"Awww. What's wrong, Vinny?" Sephiroth asked, slightly poking Vincent's nose with a gloved hand.

Vinny just turned away from him, crouching and shivering slightly. "Oh Lucrecia! What fate must I go through before I could be with you again!?" he was exclaiming in bunny language.

Sephiroth frowned at him, "Oh so now you hate me? Why?" he asked, stooping down to the rabbit that was on top of a rock.

"Well duh, do you think rabbits can talk?" Vincent thought miserably before turning his head to Sephiroth, gazing up at him with frustrated eyes.

Sephiroth felt his heart sink as he gasped slightly. "What?! You don't want me to destroy the Planet, right?" he asked.

Vincent just turned away, his face looking gloomier than ever.

Sephiroth lifted him off the rock and brought him closer to his face. Vincent just stared blankly at him. Sephiroth smiled gently at him. "Oh Vinny… you know you're my only pet… and I love you… and you must love me too… so for your happiness, I'll change my plans!" he told him.

Vincent's eyes widened at him.

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah! Everything for you, Vinny!" and he kissed the rabbit's nose before sitting down on the grassy ground, hugging the rabbit rather _lovingly_, not even noticing that the rabbit was already stiff because it was already starting to suffocate. "But wait… we have to run away… from everything… from everyone! Hmm…" Sephiroth began to think, then his face lit up, "I know! Hojo's got this old house in Costa del Sol! We can both live there… just the two of us! We'll be together forever… we'll be happy forever! Just the two of us. You and I…" he said dreamily.

The more Vincent stiffened. "Nooooo….. Oh Lucrecia… if you're Sephiroth, I'd loooove to go to Costa del Sol and live there… but he's not you… he's just your son… and he's… insane!!! He's so poetic like…" his thoughts trailed off when he recalled Lucrecia telling him, "Oh, Vinny, you're so poetic!"

Silence.

"EEPS! What if this guy's my son?!" Vincent began to panic.

Sephiroth began to cradle the rabbit in his arms while singing happily, "I love my Vinneh, oh yes I do… I love my Vinneh, I realleh doooooooo!!! MWahahahahaha! Even if you are just a rabbit, oh my Vinneh, I love youuuuuuuuuu!!!!! Mwahahahahaha!"

Vincent wanted to faint.

_After one week_

            "No, really, _where_ is Vincent?" Tifa asked stubbornly.

Silence.

The rabbit was already shaking in one corner of the room.

Cloud just remained seated on the bed, staring down at the floor as if he wasn't able to understand the question.

"Ya foo'! Don't tell me ya'll are hidin' sumthin'?!" Barret demanded.

"Huh? You're saying something?" Cloud asked with an innocent look on his face, pretending not to have heard the question.

"You #$%!!!!! Stop playin' dumb like your brain's clouded or something!" Cid snapped impatiently at him.

"Yeah! Where is Vincent?" Yuffie asked, crossing her arms.

Silence.

Cloud turned to the rabbit and pretended to care about it, "Oh, dear! You're scaring the rabbit with your voices!" he said as he got up and went over to it and took it in his arms before going outside, leaving everyone perplexed.

"How come it seems like the #$%%$ rabbit's got something to do with this also?" Cid asked.

"I think Cloud's just finally over the edge. I've heard him arguing with the rabbit before about Hojo and potions, when he thought no-one was listening in," Yuffie said, scratching her head.

"Yo Teef! Isn't Rufus supposed to be your rabbit?" Barret asked, turning to Tifa.

Tifa raised an eyebrow at him, "I beg your pardon?" she asked in awe.

"It's _Ruffy_, you #$%! Teef named the #$%%$ rodent, _Ruffy_!" Cid corrected.

Tifa scratched her head in confusion. "I really don't get it… how come almost all of you would think that Ruffy is Rufus?!" she asked.

"Because it was derived from that name, right?" Red XIII asked.

Silence.

"I'll just go to Cloud…" Red mumbled before going outside.

Tifa sighed heavily.

"We've been here in this place for a week already but no one's looking for us! Isn't it strange?" Yuffie asked before sitting down on the bed.

Cid was quiet for a while before announcing, "The President is missing."

All eyes turned to him, "What?" Barret asked.

"It's in the news ever since last week! Don't you guys read the #$%%$ papers?" Cid asked in annoyance.

"Well… I went straight to the section wherein they said that Sephiroth stopped attacking for some bizarre reason," Tifa explained.

Silence.

"What?" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Well… nobody really knows the reason why, but the news said that Sephiroth summoned the Weapons, and then finished them off all by himself! Isn't it strange?! And here's a scoop, he's got a mascot." Tifa explained.

"A mascot?" Barret asked.

"Sources say that it's a… black rabbit." She responded with a silly look on her face.

Silence.

"Maybe you read it in the tabloids, Teef. Hahahahaha!" Cid insulted.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "No, I didn't! It's even in the broadsheets like ShinRa Times and Midgar Times and even the Icicle Inn Insider!" she pointed out.

Yuffie, who was at one corner of the room reading a magazine she got out of nowhere, suddenly giggled. "Heehee! They got a shot here of the bunny! It has pretty red eyes, just like Vincent's! Heehee! I wonder if he's the bunny," she added jokingly.

The people in the room suddenly turned to her with shocked looks on their faces.

"Uh… kidding?!" she said, shrugging.

"Gimme dat!" Barret yelled, snatching the magazine out of her grasp. After scanning the story with the headline: "Sephiroth and his Rabbit: An Exclusive Interview", he broke out into loud guffaws. "HAHAHAH! Well, whaddya know?!"

"What the %&$?!" Cid gritted, annoyed by Barret's laughter.

"Says here dat the dang foo's bunny rabbit's name's Vinny! Hahahah! Cuz he found the damn thing with a red bandanna on it, and it reminded him of Vincent Valentine! HAHAHAHAH!" he explained, throwing the magazine over to Cid so he could read it for himself.

Cid also had the same reaction. "$&#! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Tifa just eyed them in annoyance.

"What's with those rabbits anyway? It seems like everybody's got rabbits! First it's Tifa, then it's Sephiroth! Maaaaan!!!" Yuffie remarked.

            Meanwhile.

Red found Cloud talking to the rabbit as he boarded the elevator. "Hey, Cloud! Wait up!" he said, running over to them. Cloud and the rabbit froze upon seeing Red XIII. "Uh… why?" Cloud asked, absentmindedly pressing the 'Open' button.

Red XIII eyed him curiously. "Well, you were acting strange and I want to know why," he answered.

"Oh." Cloud said. He looked at the rabbit. "Um… we won't need the elevator, then…" he said, walking beyond the doors.

Red narrowed his eyes at him, then said, "Are you alright? You seem a bit dazed."

Before Cloud could say anything, Red picked up an eerily familiar scent. "Uh… well, you know how it is, Red—I'm a bit stressed out, and, uh… things… I'm worried about Vincent missing, because _I _have got nothing to do with it, you know? Things like that. Heheh," Cloud explained, racking his brain for excuses as he went along. "Uh… what's wrong, Red?" he asked when he noticed that Red XIII began sniffing the air.

"Excuse me, Cloud," he said, sniffing a bit more. "I smell something evil in the atmosphere…"

Cloud and the rabbit's eyes widened. "What? Sephiroth?"

"No. ShinRa," Red XIII said bluntly. "A Turk might have been here…"

Rufus snorted. "Me? The President of ShinRa Inc? Regarded as a lowly Turk? What an incredibly stupid…"

Red's eyes widened. He gasped as he looked at the rabbit. "The rabbit said something, Cloud!" he yelped.

Cloud said, "WHAT?!" and carried the bunny closer to his face, giving him the expression that said, "Watch what you say, he understands animal talk!"

The rabbit's ears twitched. "Well, I felt degraded upon being mistaken as a Turk. Oh well, better than Heidegger, I suppose."

Red XIII snarled. "Let go of the rabbit, Cloud, it's either the Fat President reincarnated into a rabbit or Rufus turned into a rabbit!"

"NO! Anything but that disgusting old man… Please, I'm still more sanitary as a rabbit than he ever was…" the rabbit sniffed.

"IT'S RUFUS!" Red said, lunging at Rufus. Unfortunately, Cloud still _was _holding the rabbit, so Red tackled him instead and his back hit the floor with a loud "THUD".

"Owowow…" Cloud groaned, rubbing his back. He saw Rufus about to be caught by Red's choppers, and he got him out of Red's reach just in time.

"Cloud! What are you doing? We have to get rid of him! He's spying on us!" Red said, eyeing Rufus angrily.

Rufus snorted. "I could have hired somebody else. I have better things to do than hang out with your eccentric group," he said airily in the rabbit language.

Cloud sighed. "No, Red, he's just a rabbit as of now. He's not dangerous," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Red said, calming down a bit, but still alert.

"Well, let's see… He now hates Hojo and plans his demise. He needs our help, though, because he's a rabbit," Cloud explained, realizing how silly he sounds.

Red blinked. "Why help him?"

"I bribed him into helping me. Besides, Tifa just adores me and Cloud has no choice but to follow my bidding as long as I'm her pet," Rufus explained.

Red looked at Cloud. "You let him bribe you? With what? I don't think he carried Gil with him."

Cloud blinked. "What are you talking about?" he looked at the rabbit with an annoyed face.

Rufus sighed. "Ask him about the revival potion."

"What's the revival potion?" Red asked Cloud.

Cloud looked down. "Oh. That," he sighed with a hesitant look on his face.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Cloud and Rufus jumped up in shock upon seeing Tifa standing there, her hands on her hips, eyeing them with a frown on her face.

"T…T…T…Tifa! H…hi!" Cloud greeted with a hesitant weak smile on his face.

Tifa instantly grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the elevator going to one of the secluded areas of the hotel lobby. "H…how did you get in the lobby before I could?" Cloud asked casually.

"I took the stairs. I figured the elevator's too slow." She pushed him against the wall. The rabbit was hopping after them but by the time it reached them, Tifa was already giving Cloud a sermon about telling the truth about Vincent and then informing him about Sephiroth and the missing President of ShinRa.

Cloud just blinked as he tried to maintain innocent eye-contact with Tifa.

Red XIII was sniffing the rabbit and then mindlessly declared, "Hell, Cloud! This _is_ Rufus! It smells like him!!!"

Tifa instantly turned to Red XIII and the rabbit. The rabbit hid behind Red XIII. She raised an eyebrow. Cloud rushed over to the rabbit. "Tifa, you scared him!" he told her before picking up the rabbit and the patting its head gently before handing it over to Tifa. "Here. Why don't you hold him _close to your chest_ to keep him warm while Red and I are talking outside about how he could sniff Vincent's tracks so that we could find him because for all we know, he could be buried in the snow already. Heheh." He told her with a silly and uncomfortable smile on his face before dashing out of the secluded area, leaving Tifa and Rufus there.

Red XIII was running after Cloud.

"What is the matter with them?" Tifa said out loud in annoyance before walking back to the main lobby and went over to the receptionist. The receptionist was still asleep. She raised an eyebrow. "Uh… excuse me, ma'am," Tifa began.

She had been answered by a snore.

She hesitated for a while before tapping the woman's shoulder to wake her up, "Ma'am," she called out, louder than before, surprising the woman.

The woman instantly woke up and forced a smile at her. "Oh… hi! How may I help you?" she asked.

Tifa just forced a cheerful smile at her, "Oh… I'd like to ask for the newspaper for today?" she asked.

The receptionist thought for a while before grabbing a newspaper from beside her. "Here you go!" she said, handing it to Tifa. "Thank you," Tifa said as she got it and proceeded to the waiting area and sat down on the couch with the rabbit resting on her lap. Finally, the rabbit relaxed from its stiffness, but it was still trembling as it was resting on her bare legs (hey, her skirt's short, remember?)

As she began to read the newspaper, the rabbit also forgot about its present situation and began to read with her too, but he was thinking, "Can't you hurry up a bit? Go to the business section!!!" But she was reading backwards. She started from the last page.

"Nothing much on sports…" she muttered before turning to the previous page. Entertainment section.

Rufus watched as the other sections went by… until she reached the business section where his ears suddenly twitched upon seeing… but she immediately turned the page going to the other news. He wanted to bite her, but he thought twice about it when he saw Cloud approaching with Red XIII.

Cloud was eyeing the front page with a deep frown on his face and he also had this inquiring look in his eyes. "Tifa, is that new?" he asked.

She put down the paper, accidentally covering the rabbit with it. "You mean this one? Yeah." She replied, surprised upon seeing him again.

"Shit…" Cloud muttered as he grabbed the newspaper off Tifa's grasp and began to read the Headlines on the front page.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? I was still reading that?" she asked, getting up and going to him, but he turned away from her, still reading with wide-eyes. She stood on tiptoe and took a look over his shoulder on what he was reading. Her eyes widened upon seeing what it was.

SEPHIROTH QUITS

"What the…" she grabbed the newspaper away from Cloud and began to read out loud for Cloud and Red XIII to hear with a look of awe on her face after a few moments of reading it silently, "…Sephiroth killed all the weapons that he summoned, stopped looking for the Promised Land, disregarded everything… and is now living in Costa del Sol with his _beloved_ pet bunny rabbit?! See picture below…" she lowered her gaze at the said picture. Cloud took a peek over her shoulder and stared at the picture.

It was a colored picture so it was really distinct… and Cloud's jaw dropped and he also gasped when he saw that the bunny rabbit had black fur, a strange left front paw and a red bandanna around its head… and red eyes.

"Oh what a cute rabbit! It looks just like Vincent! Heehee!" Tifa remarked happily.

Cloud instantly got Rufus who was on the floor beside Red XIII and carried him towards Tifa so that he could see the newspaper article and the pictures.

The rabbit froze in his grasp.

Tifa noticed the unusual silence in Cloud and in Red XIII so she turned to look at them, "Is there anything wrong?" she turned to Cloud and noticed him holding the rabbit and showing the news to it. "Cloud, what are you doing?" she asked.

Determined with a bitter look on his face, he told them, "Okay… we're going to Junon to get that potion!"

The rabbit squirmed against his grasp and rushed to the receptionist's desk, where the receptionist was sleeping again. After shoving the receptionist's hand off the keyboard, the bunny rabbit opened the word processor program. Tifa and Red XIII watched in awe as the rabbit began to type:

DON'T YOU THINK WE SHOULD GET VINCENT FIRST?

"Oh my goodness… what the…" Tifa began in awe as she approached the bunny rabbit. She gasped and smiled excitedly, "I knew you were special, Ruffy! You can type and spell correctly for an animal!" she said happily.

"Uhm… Tifa, I think there's something you should know…" Cloud began.

The rabbit turned to Cloud and stared warningly at him. Cloud raised his eyebrows at the rabbit and thought, "Oh I see… you looove the affection you're getting from Tifa, huh?"

Rufus turned to Red XIII and said something in animal language, and Red XIII turned to Cloud and whispered, "If Tifa knows, there will be no more Aerith."

"What?" Cloud demanded.

"That's what Rufus said; I'm just interpreting it." Red XIII muttered.

Tifa turned to Cloud before turning back to the monitor. "Oh Ruffy, what ever do you mean by this? Why would we even get Vincent?" she asked.

Cloud rolled his eyes and showed her the newspaper article and the picture, "Look at the black bunny, Teef." He pointed out. Tifa stared strangely at it. "It looks like Vincent…" she trailed off. Her eyes widened in shock. "Don't you mean _that_ is Vincent?!" she demanded in shock.

Rufus typed again, all eyes turned to the monitor:

YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT, MISS LOCKHEART.

Silence.

"Oh my God!" Tifa gasped.

"I'm getting Aerith back no matter what you say! Tifa must know!" Cloud pointed out before grabbing Tifa's shoulders and made her face him. "Tifa, you must know something very important!" he told her.

She blinked. "Wh…what?" she asked in confusion.

Before Cloud could continue, the rabbit hopped onto his face and bit his nose. "AAARGH! You stupid bunny!!!" Cloud cried out in pain, trying to remove Rufus's bunny chompers off his nose while running around the whole place. Tifa stared curiously at them. "Oh my…" she muttered before she decided to exit the word processor program before the receptionist wakes up. With that, she went back to the couch and sat down, observing Cloud and Ruffy.

Red XIII sat down on the floor by her left leg and began to watch too. "They're getting along pretty well, don't you think?" Tifa asked him. He just stared at the two.

Then, Tifa remembered something, "Wait a moment… about Vincent… and…" she frowned and instantly got up, rushing towards Cloud, pulling him to her and shaking him violently with the rabbit still clutched onto his face. "Will you tell me the truth?! Ruffy typed back there that Vincent _is_ the black rabbit that belongs to Sephiroth, right?!" she demanded frantically.

"Mrhphkdlkhggh pmrhgh…" Cloud said, but the rabbit was muffling his voice because of the thick fur covering his lips. Giving up, the rabbit jumped off from Cloud, going back to Tifa. She caught it in her arms, gently cradling it. Cloud thought he saw the rabbit blushing while sneering at him and giving him a look that told him, "Nyah-nyah!" He just ignored the rabbit and turned back to Tifa. "Yes. It's Vincent."

Tifa stared unbelievably at him. "But… how?!" she asked in shock.

Cloud frowned slightly and eyed the rabbit first before gazing into Tifa's crimson eyes, "I… found out about this revival potion that Hojo had developed… I figured it could bring… Aerith… back to m—us." He explained, feeling restless all of a sudden.

Tifa was still staring in awe at him while gently stroking the rabbit's fur. "But…" she shook her head in disbelief as she bowed her eyes, looking at Ruffy. She smiled bitterly before looking up at Cloud again, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have helped you!" she said.

"Well… I was afraid that you might disapprove of the idea because… you and Barret and the others are expecting me to move on and forget about her but the truth is, I can't so…" his hands were already shaking and the faltering of his voice was so obvious already. He took a deep breath before proceeding, eyeing her seriously, "…but before I could get my hands on the potion, I have to get another potion first… a reverse potion. Vincent agreed to get the potion for me…" Cloud trailed off when Tifa held her hand to his face, signaling him to stop talking, "Okay, what is the reverse potion for?" she asked as she put down her hand.

Cloud opened his mouth to explain but he did not know how to begin so no sound came out.  "It's for… Vincent…" Red XIII said, saving him.

Cloud and Red thought that they heard the rabbit sigh in relief.

Tifa thought for a while before saying, "So Vincent's been a rabbit before Sephiroth got him?" she asked.

"Yes." Red XIII and Cloud both said in unison.

"I can't believe you're lying!" Rufus told Red XIII in animal language.

"Well that's what you want us to do, right? You wouldn't want to get busted!" Red replied out loud, eyeing Rufus with an annoyed look on his face.

"Huh?" Tifa wondered, turning to Ruffy, then to Red XIII. Sensing that something was really wrong, she frowned and turned to Cloud, hugging the rabbit much closer to her chest. "C…Cloud, what is it with this rabbit?" she asked.

"Uhm…" Cloud began.

"Cloud, tell me the truth. I promise I won't tell Barret or anybody else… and I'll even help you get Aerith back!" she swore with a determined look on her face.

Red XIII and Cloud exchanged blank stares with the rabbit before turning to Tifa again. "Remember the news that Rufus ShinRa had disappeared?" the latter asked.

"Well… yeah. He could've been kidnapped by…" she began, but Cloud interrupted her by saying, "That rabbit is Rufus ShinRa."

Silence.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked softly with a stunned look on her face.

"He's Rufus." Red XIII said.

Tifa slowly looked down at the rabbit, staring into its icy blue eyes. The rabbit twitched its ears at her. She smiled weakly at it before chuckling lightly, "Oh, is that so? Heehee." She said softly as she handed the rabbit to Cloud. "I… think I need to go back to my room… why don't you take care of Ruffy for a while…" she trailed off, turning away from them and then fainting.

"Tifa!" Cloud said, letting go of the rabbit and catching her before she could hit the ground.

Red XIII just plopped down on the floor. "Oh no… this is bad…" he muttered. Rufus hopped going to him. "Why'd you have to tell her? Is she someone we could trust?" he asked him.

"Tifa's good in keeping her word… although I can assure you that if you do something stupid, she might break it." Red explained reassuringly.

Cloud carried Tifa. "Uh… come on, let's go upstairs." He told Rufus and Red XIII before heading towards the elevator.


	6. Six

El Conejo (literally translated: _The Rabbit_)

By General Quistis & Zhakeena

General Quistis's Note: Erm… Zhakeena's away so I'm stuck alone for this chapter… and sorry if it took somewhat long because I'm spending long hours in the TV station as an intern, since the deadline for completion of internship will be next week already. cries in vain Oh well… but anyway, I tried to make this as funny as possible, even though maybe some of you might not laugh… ==' Here's my effort! Please read and then review if you have the time… we'd really appreciate it. And yes, while you're at it, please read our other fic "Children of the Hearts"; it's a Kingdom Hearts fic crossed-over with Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 and 10 plus Devil May Cry, Ragnarök (manga), Dark Stalkers and Resident Evil. ;; We need feedback on how it's doing. So please!!! sniff

=================================================

Chapter 6

            "Why don't you tell me what happened to Teef?" Barret demanded from Cloud.

"I… don't even know myself! I just passed by the lobby and I saw her fainting! Maybe she'll tell us why she fainted once she wakes up." Cloud fibbed.

Red XIII just watched from one corner of the room with a glum look on his face. The rabbit was beside Tifa, sniffing her as if trying to find out if she would be waking up sooner or later.

"Feh! For all I know Cloud must've mooned her or something." Cid teased.

"I would never do such a thing." Cloud muttered glumly while eyeing him warningly. Cid laughed.

Yuffie also burst out laughing, "Yeah, for all we know Cid's the one who did it and Tifa fainted when she saw his warty butt! Heeheeheehee!"

Cid frowned at her, "Why ya #$%%$!!!???" he demanded.

"Hey, hey, she's coming around!" Barret said, hushing them when he saw Tifa move.

Cloud just sat still on the chair by the bed.

She slowly opened her eyes. "Wh…where am I…?" she said softly as her eyes roamed around the whole area. She felt relieved when she saw all her friends there… and she froze when she saw the rabbit sitting beside her and staring curiously at her.

"Ya 'ayt, Teef?" Barret asked with a worried look on his face.

She nodded her head slightly, still eyeing the rabbit with a look of awe on her face. "Y…yeah… I… just… felt dizzy moments ago that's why I fainted… I must've eaten something bad for breakfast…" she fibbed.

Cloud and Red felt relieved when she said that.

She slowly sat up, but still had her gaze glued to the rabbit. She thought the rabbit had frowned at her, as if asking, "What the bloody hell are you looking at me for?"

She swallowed hard before forcing a smile at everyone. "Can I have some privacy here first?" she asked.

Silence.

"Alright," Barret said before proceeding to the door with Yuffie and Cid. "Just yell if you need anythin', 'ayt?" he asked before they got out of the room.

Cloud got up from the chair and called for Red XIII to go with him, but Tifa spoke up sternly, "Except for the two of you,"

Cloud sat down again and Red XIII went back to his spot. "So, you're alright now?" the former asked. Tifa eyed the rabbit curiously before moving slightly away from it, "I… I'm not sure if I dreamt about it…" she muttered with a look of disgust on her face.

Rufus eyed her rather snottily before hopping away from her… but he was so darn cute in his rabbit form…

Tifa burst into tears before grabbing the rabbit again and held it close to herself, hugging it tightly, "Oh but you're so adorable! Don't leave me!!! Why can't you just stay in this form forever?" she asked.

Cloud's jaw dropped in shock.

Red XIII shook his head in disbelief. "Tifa, you didn't dream it. _That_ is Rufus." He pointed out.

The rabbit was already suffocating because of too much body heat and excitement… and his nose began to bleed again. "Uh… Tifa, Rufus's nose is bleeding. Please let go of him…" Red XIII said softly.

"Tifa, whenever you're holding him, will you refrain from letting his face touch your chest?" Cloud asked, pulling Rufus away from her and wiping his nose with a piece of cloth that he found lying around on the bedside table.

Tifa stared at the rabbit, then at Cloud. "How could Rufus even turn into such a cute creature like that?" she asked with a hurtful look on her face.

"It's all Hojo's doing, okay? And this is the whole truth: Rufus made a deal with me that if I get him the reverse potion, he'll give me the revival potion. So Vincent went over to Junon in Hojo's lab there to get it but unfortunately…" he trailed off when Tifa butt in, "Hey, hey, wait a moment! What's the reverse potion for again?" she asked.

"So that Rufus could become human again." Cloud explained.

"But due to some unavoidable circumstances, Hojo must have found that out so he turned Vincent into a rabbit." Red XIII pointed out.

"But… what about Sephiroth? How did he manage to get his hands on Vincent?" she asked in confusion.

"That we don't know. That's why Red and I are planning to go to Sephiroth right now and get Vincent back." Cloud explained.

"You think Sephiroth will give you his bunny rabbit? I don't think so." Tifa muttered.

"We could give it a try!" Cloud told her.

"Why can't we just get the revival potion by ourselves instead? We don't need Rufus to get it, right?" she asked, eyeing the rabbit rather haughtily. Ruffy the rabbit seemed to frown at her. "Oh so now you hate me? What about those nights we spent together cuddled up in that bed?" he was saying. Obviously, Cloud and Tifa couldn't understand that since he's still a rabbit… but Red XIII heard it loud and clear… and he looked unbelievably at him.

"You don't understand; Rufus knows where it is. Once he's human again, he can get it for us." Cloud explained.

"But what if it's another one of his bloody traps? Just like what he said before… he said that he still wants to find out more about JENOVA and stuff like that, so he invited us to join him, saying '_I want you all to come with me; there's still so much more I want to know_!'" Tifa even imitated Rufus's facial expression and his voice, impressing Cloud, Rufus and Red XIII before proceeding, "Yeah right! And look what he did to us! He sentenced us to death for all the world to see! He wanted to blame AVALANCHE for all the troubles that ShinRa and Sephiroth had caused to the whole Planet! Can't you understand that that bunny rabbit you're holding right now is the world's greatest bastard?!" she snapped impatiently.

The rabbit's eyes widened upon hearing that.

"He said that people are ignorant and they'll feel better once someone is punished… that's exactly what he did. He sentenced _me_ to death together with Barret…" Tifa trailed off when the rabbit hopped off from Cloud's grasp and back to her. The rabbit pounded its right front paw on the bed's cushion and its ears were red in fury.

"He's saying '_how dare you say those things_!'" Red XIII translated.

Tifa just glared angrily at the rabbit. "Looks like we're going to have rabbit stew for dinner tonight," she muttered with a mean smile on her face. The rabbit's eyes widened at her.

"Hey, hey, calm down, Teef!" Cloud said, grabbing the rabbit away from her before she could get her hands on it. He placed Ruffy on the floor by his left foot. "Look, we're all having a hard time here, okay? Why can't we trust Rufus this time?" he asked.

Tifa was surprised upon hearing that, so was Red XIII. "Oh so now you're on Rufus's side? That guy almost killed me!!!" she exclaimed.

"Not really…" Cloud began. And it all became clear to Tifa and Red XIII. "Oh… I see…" Tifa nodded with a suspicious smile on her face.

"This is about getting Aerith back, right?" Red XIII asked seriously.

"Hell yeah! That's why it's easy to make that spiky-headed jerk to close a deal with me." Rufus replied.

Cloud was just silent for a few moments before he just got up. "Fine. I don't anyone's help. Since Sephiroth isn't going to be doing anything stupid for the next couple of days, I might as well confront him all by myself! I'm getting Vincent back here." he declared before picking up Rufus and taking him out of the room with Red XIII following after him.

Tifa just sighed in despair as she leaned back against the headboard and stared sadly into the space before her. "Too bad…" she muttered miserably before deciding to get up and headed for the window. She looked outside and waited until she saw Cloud with the rabbit and Red XIII. The rabbit was on Red XIII's back, and to her surprise, it turned its head back to where her window is.

She jerked slightly and moved away from the window with a solemn look on her face. "Oh well… here goes…" she said softly before she went over to the side of the bed to put on her socks, her shoes and her gloves. With that, she headed for the door and slowly opened it, peeking outside to see if Barret or any of her other companions are standing guard. When she saw that the coast was clear, she stepped out of the room and proceeded to the elevator…

            "Isn't it lovely?" Sephiroth asked with a calm look on his face while eyeing the sunset in Costa del Sol. He was seated on the roof of his new house watching the sunset with his black rabbit on his lap and trembling rather violently.

"It would be lovelier if you were Lucrecia…" Vincent was thinking miserably.

It was a small house… like a one-storey cottage made out of strong wood. It once belonged to Hojo but he completely abandoned it when he found it too small for himself and his scientific gadgets and just decided to rent rooms in the hotel whenever he would take a vacation in that place.

"How the hell am I going to get out of here?" Vincent thought to himself before he froze upon feeling Sephiroth's fingers raking through his ebony black fur. "Oh no…" he thought.

"You're so beautiful, Vinny," Sephiroth remarked before lifting him up, bringing him to his lips and kissing him on the nose. "Mwahahahaha! I'm so happy to have found you!" Sephiroth told him.

"Oh Lucrecia!" Vincent was thinking horridly.

Before Sephiroth could kiss him again, they were interrupted when they heard a familiar voice calling his master's name. Upon hearing it, Sephiroth almost slipped off the roof. "Shit! Who the hell— ." he cussed, but trailed off when he saw Cloud Strife standing below with Red XIII and rabbit. "Oh… it's you… what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" Sephiroth demanded.

Cloud stared curiously at Sephiroth, then at the black rabbit. The black rabbit was staring helplessly at him, as if saying, "Save me!!!"

Red XIII nudged Cloud with his nose, "It's Vincent. He wants us to save him. I think he's been tortured mentally," he whispered.

Rufus looked at Vincent and snickered. "Welcome to my world!" he said sarcastically.

Vincent eyed him miserably, "Thanks to you, Rufus." He said.

Sephiroth frowned at them before deciding to jump down from the roof with the black bunny in his right grasp. He landed perfectly on his two feet on the ground and the flipped his hair before facing Cloud and his animal friends, "What do you want, Strife? Can't you see I've retired?" he demanded.

Cloud didn't know how to begin; he was just eyeing the black bunny with pity mixed with suppressed laughter in his eyes. "Poor guy," he thought silently.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes on him before he started stroking the rabbit's black fur. "Hmm… if this is about Aerith, well sorry. I can't bring her back…" he began, but Cloud cut him off while still looking at the rabbit, "It's… alright, Sephiroth. No need to worry about her… can I see that rabbit?" he asked.

Sephiroth frowned at him. "What for?" he asked.

"I'd… like to see it. It's so cute. Just like mine! Heh heh," Cloud replied weakly, picking up Rufus and showing him to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth eyed the blue-eyed rabbit before shaking his head, "You've got an odd one here. My Vinny here is better! Mwahahahahaha!" he said proudly.

Cloud swallowed hard. Rufus told Red XIII, "This is going to take long! Why can't Cloud just snatch Vinny away from Sephiroth?"

Red XIII just shook his head in dismay.

"You gotta get me away from Sephiroth!!!" Vincent was telling Rufus and Red XIII.

"Uh… Sephiroth, can we talk inside? I don't want people seeing me talking with you…" Cloud began.

"Better be good, Strife," Sephiroth muttered.

"Uh… yeah. Sure. It's about… our rabbits… maybe we could start a business together… like… mate them!" Cloud suggested while eyeing Vincent the rabbit with a weak smile on his face.

Sephiroth thought for a while before saying, "Hmm… is your rabbit a girl?" he asked.

"Yeah… her name's… Lucrecia," Cloud lied.

"What?!" Rufus exclaimed, his ears twitching and turning red.

Red XIII eyed him warningly, as if saying, "Just play along…"

"What the hell are you doing, Cloud?!" Vincent said.

Sephiroth thought for a while before deciding to take a closer look on Ruffy, but Cloud stepped back. "Nah-uh. No peeking. She's very sensitive about men looking at her genitals." He warned Sephiroth.

Sephiroth just raised his eyebrows at the statement. "Oh." He said in confusion. "Anyway… let's just go inside first and discuss it over dinner," he told them.

"Dinner? But… I need to go home immediately. Tifa's cooking dinner for me and the rest. Heheh…" Cloud said weakly.

"No. We're discussing about our rabbits' relationship inside for dinner NOW!" Sephiroth insisted before leading the way inside. "And take your dog inside too. Don't want him peeing in the yard." He said, referring to Red XIII. Red twitched upon hearing that.

"Oh well… here goes…" Cloud muttered under his breath.

"Better be good!" Vincent told Red XIII and Rufus, assuming that they'd be the only ones who could understand animal language.

            Hojo had fallen asleep by his PC once again, snoring hard. Scarlet entered his laboratory and frowned upon seeing him. "Kyah! Sleeping on the job again… hmf…" she stepped forward and screamed in his ear, "KYAH!!!", surprising him, waking him up. He jumped up in surprise and shock and fell off his seat. "You…" he began angrily.

"Board meeting in five minutes!" She announced haughtily before strutting out of the lab.

Hojo snorted and adjusted his glasses before searching through his folders and then grabbed a few files before walking out of the laboratory.

A few moments after he had gotten out of the laboratory, Tifa Lockheart emerged from the vent. She jumped down to the ground and rushed to his PC which he had left switched on. She began to go through his list of formulas and potions, searching for the revival potion.

Finally, she found it. She read carefully where it was located, "Top Secret. Cabinet AA, drawer 1." With that, she went off to the place where his cabinets are located. She began to search quickly but carefully, almost going through all the readied potions in Cabinet AA-drawer 1. But she still couldn't find it…

"Damn it! I'd better hurry up if I wanna be alive!" she thought silently as she continued to search… and she froze in terror when she felt a pair of hands seize her from behind, clutching her arms tightly. She gasped and jerked in shock when she felt something pierce through her skin… and thick liquid gushing through her veins.

"Lucky for me, I left my lucky pen that's why I had to come back."

Her eyes widened upon realizing who it was: Hojo.

Instantly, she elbowed him, causing him to let go of her, but the needle was still stuck into her flesh with the syringe already empty. She annoyingly removed it from herself and threw it on the ground. Hojo got his gun, ready to aim at her, but she decided to dodge and quickly attacked him with her punches and kicks. Defenseless without his weapon and his syringes that could make him transform into a monster, he instantly fell to the ground, unconscious when she purposely hit his head on the wall after kicking him against it.

She was panting heavily, landing on the floor. She suddenly felt so dizzy. "Damn… what did he inject in me?!" she muttered miserably before she struggled to get up and rushed back to the cabinet, not giving up on the search. "Please, please, please… Aerith, guide me! This is for Cloud, dammit!" she was praying out loud. Finally, she found it. Her crimson eyes lit up in happiness. She picked it up and kissed it in joy. "YES! Thank you, Aerith! You're really a buddy!" she cheered, assuming her friend had heard her prayer. With that, she rushed back to the vent and began to crawl her way through it going to the place where she had entered. But while inside, she was already beginning to feel dizzier and sleepier…

"Shit… I have to get out of here… I have to give this to Cloud… I can't die in here!" she thought in despair as she struggled to crawl further…

            Around 11:00 in the evening, Barret realized that Tifa, Cloud and Red XIII were missing when he visited their room to say goodnight and to see if Tifa was already okay.

"What the…" he instantly headed for Cid's room to announce to him what he had just found out.

"What? #$%!!! Maybe they eloped!" Cid cussed.

"Impossible!" Yuffie argued.

"Let's not jump into conclusions! Maybe they're just…" Barret trailed off when he saw a small bunny rabbit with reddish-black fur and crimson eyes hopping desperately heading for Tifa and Cloud's room. He rushed out of Cid's room and followed the rabbit with his gaze. He realized that he had left the door open, so the rabbit just entered the room.

Barret, Yuffie and Cid watched curiously as the strange rabbit hopped up on the bed and it was trembling and breathing hard, as if it ran away from something that scared it. What made them wonder even more was that it had something in its mouth… a glass vial.

"What the…" Barret approached the rabbit carefully and studied it curiously, but before he could touch it, he jerked in surprise when he heard Cloud speak up from the doorway, "What are you doing?" he asked.

Barret, Cid and Yuffie faced Cloud with surprised looks on their faces. "CLOUD!" they all said in unison.

Cloud frowned, staring curiously at them and realized that there was no one on the bed. "Where's Tifa?" he asked.

"We thought she's with you!" Yuffie declared.

"No, she's not!" he replied in confusion before letting go of Ruffy the rabbit, placing him on the floor. The rabbit hopped going to the bed, "What do you mean Tifa's not here?" he asked.

"I'm right here…" he heard Tifa's voice.

Red XIII froze and his gaze turned to the bed.

Rufus hopped onto the bed and saw the dark-furred rabbit with a vial lying before it. His bunny eyes widened further upon seeing her… "TIFA?!" he exclaimed in shock, in a language only understandable by animals.

Cloud stared unbelievably at the dark-furred rabbit. "Oh no… please don't tell me…" thought silently in shock before going to Cid, Barret and Yuffie; pushing them out of the room. "Out, out, out! I need some time alone! Out!" he declared. He was too panicky already to think of some other excuse to drive the others out of the room. He shut the door and bolted it before turning back on the bed where the two rabbits were seated, staring at each other.

Red XIII was standing by the bed, eyeing the two rabbits unbelievably.

Cloud slowly approached the bed. "Red… _that_ is not Tifa, is it?" he asked in worry.

Red swallowed hard before turning to Cloud, smiling weakly, "Uhm… unfortunately, Cloud… it is Tifa…" he said softly.

They were all silent for several moments before Cloud reacted with a soft, "What?" in a tone that also seemed to falter. Red XIII, Rufus and Tifa watched as the color disappeared from his face, and his hands and arms stiffening.

"Cloud, don't worry about me! I'll be alright! But I got this for you!" Tifa explained, but obviously, Cloud couldn't hear or understand it, so Red XIII translated for her.

Cloud fought the urge to pass out when he saw the vial with the pink liquid inside. He frowned slightly as he reached out a trembling hand to it and began to examine it.

"What's that?" Rufus asked her.

"It's the revival potion that you're talking about, President Rufus." She replied with a haughty tone. He felt enraged. Now his plan is ruined! "WHAT?! You got it all by yourself?!" he demanded angrily.

Her rabbit head nodded in delight, "Uh-huh! But I have to suffer some consequences, such as turning into a bunny rabbit too. Heehee!" she giggled.

Rufus eyed her miserably. "You got the bloody revival potion and didn't get the reverse potion in the process?" he asked.

"Her mouth is too small to carry two items. Besides, I think that reverse potion is only good for one person. You have to get two others for Vincent and Tifa if that's the case." Red XIII pointed out to him.

"Bloody hell! You mean I'm going to be stuck as a rabbit for several more days?!" Rufus snapped impatiently.

"Why? Weren't you able to get Vincent back?" Tifa asked.

"No. Sephiroth said we'd discuss it over dinner at his place but while having dinner, we only discussed about mating his rabbit with this rabbit." Red XIII explained, referring to Rufus by pointing his right paw onto him. Rufus's ears twitched upon hearing that while staring at Tifa's reaction. Her ears also twitched and her nose twisted lightly. "What?! You're going to mate Vincent with Rufus?! What the hell were you guys thinking?!" she demanded in shock.

"Blame it on that spiky-headed jerk! Oh that's the most embarrassing thing I've ever been into!" Rufus complained, turning away from them and hiding his face by burying it against the pillow.

"Well be thankful that Sephiroth wasn't able to see your genitals so that he would know that you're not really a girl but a boy bunny rabbit. Otherwise he could've stabbed us to death." Red XIII said before turning to Cloud upon hearing him muffle a sob. "You're crying?" he asked.

Tifa and Rufus both turned to look up at Cloud, eyeing him curiously. The former wagged her cotton tail happily, "Red, tell Cloud that that's for him and Aerith… and tell him to stop crying too because he should be happy that Aerith is coming back!" she said.

Red smiled slightly before nudging Cloud's leg with his left paw, "You should be glad that Aerith is coming back now that you have that; thanks to Tifa. She says it's her gift for you and Aerith." He turned his head to the side, looking at Tifa in her rabbit form through his peripheral vision, "She only wishes the best for you and Aerith, Cloud." He said softly in a voice audible enough for only Cloud to hear while Tifa stared curiously at him, wondering what he added.

Cloud slowly faced Tifa and Rufus before approaching them, sitting on the bed and then patted their heads. "Thanks you two. You've been a big help." He said with a grateful but sad smile on his face. He was somewhat worried about what would happen once he drinks that reviving potion. He could recall what Rufus had explained to him: he has to drink the potion and it would make him unconscious. While in that state, his state of mind would be somewhere in another dimension wherein he could find Aerith… and he has 100 hours to find her and then take her back with him. But what happens if he goes past the deadline? He lifted Rufus and placed him on his lap, then got Tifa and did the same. Rufus was looking up at him like saying, "What are you thanking me for?"

Cloud understood and said softly, "If it wasn't for you, I would still be grieving." Then to Tifa, "Thanks for getting this for me. I promise I'll get the reverse potions for you, Rufus and Vincent once I regain consciousness." He said.

She blinked at him, "Don't promise me anything, Cloud." She said.

"She says don't promise her anything." Red XIII translated.

Cloud just smiled at Tifa. "Just one last promise, my friend." He told her before patting her head. She just stared up at him with a worried look in her eyes before hopping off his lap with Rufus. With that, Cloud got up and opened the vial, sniffing its contents. For some strange reason, it smelled like… Aerith. He smiled softly before gulping down the contents which tasted like sweet nectar from flowers.

"Don't you think he should be doing this with _humans_ present around him?" Rufus asked Tifa and Red XIII.

"No. We'll take care of him ourselves." Tifa insisted before turning to him. "Besides, I can't let Barret and the others learn that you're Rufus ShinRa. They might do something bad to you like… turn you into rabbit stew!" she said with a concerned tone. Rufus eyed her curiously. "Oh…" was all he said before looking away, feeling somewhat embarrassed that the girl that he had attempted to kill once was already showing concern to him… but then again, he recalled when he asked one of the soldiers to "accidentally" drop a key by her inside the gas chamber to help her escape. Something just triggered pity in him… and he did not feel guilty about it.

Tifa and Red XIII observed quietly as Cloud slowly sat down on the bed as he dropped the vial onto the floor, breaking it. He clutched his head, as if in pain, but his eyes showed nothingness… and his expression appeared very blank.

"Cloud, how are you feeling?" Red XIII asked curiously.

"I'm… alright… just… leave me here for a while…" Cloud responded as he laid himself down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes. He plopped down his hands on his sides and breathed deeply as a calm look took over his facial expression.

Tifa bowed down her head.

"Shall we leave him?" Red XIII asked.

"No. We're staying here." Rufus said before hopping up onto the bed and towards Cloud's head. He examined the peaceful look on Cloud's face. "He's asleep." He announced.

"Is he alright?" Tifa asked curiously.

Red XIII began to sniff Cloud and he frowned at the scent. Rufus and Tifa were also able to smell it. "He smells different…" Red XIII pointed out before sniffing again. "…like flowers… in Aerith's Church…" he said softly.

Tifa just stared at Cloud with a solemn look on her face. "I hope he can survive this," she said.

Rufus just turned away and hopped down from the bed, going to the window. He climbed onto the windowpane and sat there, watching the snow falling gently outside. "He'd better…" he muttered to himself with a stiff look in his eyes.

======================================================

to be continued. Baaaaah XD


	7. Seven

El Septímo Capítulo de la fabula El Conejo

(The Seventh Chapter of the story El Conejo)

oOoOo

_Cloud_

He opened his eyes and looked around… his current surroundings looked so empty… and everything was black… even the ground where he lay. Slowly sitting up, he clutched his head. He felt so confused. "Where… am I?" he thought silently before he decided to stand up and explore on his own.

"What's there to explore anyway? There's nothing in here but black! Maybe I've been tricked by Rufus…" he thought silently… he stopped walking and gasped slightly as his blue eyes widened in shock. "WHAT IF IT'S POISON THAT HE MADE ME DRINK?" he cried out.

He became frantic, poking himself to see if anything hurts, trying to determine if he was dizzy or if he felt like vomiting… but he felt pretty normal. "Oh no… what if I'm already dead? Maybe that's what he meant when he said I could see Aerith…" he said. "Oooh… that's it, I'm going back there to haunt the wits out of his cute little bunny body!" he muttered to himself.

He stopped talking to himself when in the darkness, he heard muffled sentences from afar.

Cloud tried to determine which direction the voice was coming from. "Is it… her?" he thought happily to himself.

But he stopped as he got closer when he realized that the voice was male.

"… What the?" he said.

The voice was clearer now. "Hey! Who's there?"

"Who are you!" Cloud said, running over to the voice.

The voice stopped. Then, lights flickered on. Cloud blinked in confusion as he realized that the reason it was so dark there was because nobody turned on the lights.

And he realized that he was facing his old friend, Zack.

"… Cloud?" Zack asked, befuddled. "How could you die this early?"

He couldn't respond properly. He pointed one (accusing) finger at him and stammered, "Z… Zack!"

Zack tilted his head. "Oh, wait. I don't think you're dead, Cloud," he said.

Cloud blinked. "How come? I thought Rufus poisoned me…"

The spiky black haired man went over to him to compare hands. "See? I'm transparent. You're not. He heh!" he pointed out.

Cloud was dumbfounded.

Zack laughed joyfully. "Heheh. So, what are you doing in this kind of place if it's not yet your time? Astral projection or something or maybe you suffered a little accident like getting hit by Tifa and knocked-out cold or something?" he asked.

Cloud felt so numb as he looked at his surroundings, then back to him, "I'm… looking for… someone." He admitted.

"Who? Maybe I could help," Zack told him with a kind smile on his face.

Cloud was just silent. He looked grumpily at Zack.

"Hey… don't look at me like that… Oh, I get it! You're lookin' for Aerith, right?"

Cloud looked even grumpier.

Zack held up his hands. "Don't be so jealous, man. You know, it's not like I'm still in-love with her or anything like that… After all you guys have been through, I just plain got over it…"

Cloud frowned. "I'm not convinced. If that's true, it's either you like somebody else or you've turned homosexual. So which one is it? HMMM?" he said, giving Zack a challenging look.

Zack just stared unbelievably at him, "I knew you had a sick mind." He muttered.

Cloud just smiled at him. "So, could you help me?" he asked.

Silence.

"After what you told me? No." Zack told him before turning away. Cloud frowned at him and went after him, "Hey!" he called out.

"I was just kidding back there, Zack!" Cloud yelled after him.

"Didn't sound like it," Zack muttered.

"Well you got affected! It means it's true!" Cloud pointed out.

"That's it! You just drew the line! I ain't helping ya anymore!" Zack told him before rushing off.

"Don't tell me you're gay? And you like Sephiroth?" Cloud asked.

Silence.

"So the rumors from waaaay back in Soldier were true, huh?" Cloud asked, meaning to piss him off for some reason he could not understand.

Zack turned back to him. "Okay, stop that now. I can help you with Aerith if you'll just stop it with the gay rumors coz they ain't true." He said.

Cloud eyed him blankly. "Where is she?" he asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"Well, I don't know… the Lifestream's such a large place… but I've seen her once or twice around here somewhere… and she'd usually run away from me and from everybody else! I can't understand it!" Zack explained.

Cloud looked around for once. Indeed, the Lifestream was a large place… most of the people who died on the face of the Planet were there.

"Oh no! It's almost impossible to find her in this crowded place! And only 100 hours…! Wait a second," he thought to himself as he got a timer out of his pocket. "99 hours, 23 minutes to go…" he mumbled.

"Huh?" Zack said.

"I have to go… I won't be here too long…" Cloud said, running off.

oOoOoOo

"Excuse me, have you seen a girl named Aerith?" Cloud asked to about the hundredth dead person he's met in the Lifestream.

The man shook his head. "Haven't heard of her. What's she look like?"

Cloud sighed tiredly. And for the 100th time, he said, "Brown hair in braids, green eyes… wears pink… OH WHAT THE HELL!" he stomped angrily and just walked away, about to lose hope. He wanted to cry already because he was so worried that he was running out of time and once he does, he might not be able to wake up anymore. He kept on walking, eyeing each of the spirits roaming around there… but none of them resembled her. He also thought about his own mother, thinking if he could see her there…

"Well, well, well! If it isn't little Cloudy Stifekins!" a familiar man's voice said.

Cloud twitched and he felt goosebumps all over his body. "Uh-oh…" he turned around and saw a familiar-looking man, although he could not remember his name and who he was. "Do I know you?" he asked.

Before the man could answer, another man appeared from behind him. "There you are, Lockheart!"

Cloud gasped. "President ShinRa!" he exclaimed.

President ShinRa eyed him rather surprisingly, "What the hell are you doing in here?" he demanded angrily.

"I…" Cloud regained his sense of mind and frankly said, "May I ask you the same question, Sir? You should be in hell!"

President ShinRa just frowned at him. "You, boy, are still so disrespectful! If my Turks were here, I'd give you to them so that they can kill you!" he snapped impatiently, but Mister Lockheart stepped forward, "Hey, you're not to do anything bad to this boy!" he warned.

"And who are you to say that?" President ShinRa answered back rather arrogantly.

"Will you men stop fighting already? You're making all the spirits look at you!" Ifalna told them as she rushed into the scene.

Cloud stared unbelievably at the woman who just arrived. She resembled so much of Aerith… but he knew it was not her.

President ShinRa snorted and turned back to Cloud, "I know who this damn boy is! He was once from SOLDIER! And he joined the rebels and did so much damage to my company!" he announced for everybody else to hear.

"Like we don't know that," Ifalna told him before heading over to Cloud and held his hand gently, "I'm so sorry, young man. He's really very cranky." She told him.

"You… you can hold me?" Cloud asked, surprised that Ifalna could hold him like she was not a spirit at all.

"She's a Cetra, that's why." Mister Lockheart pointed out.

Cloud's eyes widened. "C…Cetra?" he asked.

Ifalna stared strangely at him. "Are you alright, young man? You don't look so well," she began.

Another man appeared and he eyed Cloud from top to bottom. "I have a feeling that… you don't exactly belong here, boy," he said.

Zack finally located them. "There you are, Cloud!" he told him.

Cloud did not turn around and just kept on staring at Ifalna, then at Mister Lockheart as he approached. "I'm Mister Lockheart, Tifa's dad. Remember me?" he asked.

Quick flashes returned to Cloud's consciousness. "Oh… yes… I remember now…" he said softly with a slight smile on his face.

"And I'm Professor Gast. This is my wife, Ifalna. What is your name?" the other man asked.

"C…Cloud Strife." Cloud replied.

Zack approached him and whispered, "They are Aerith's parents."

Cloud turned to face him and stared at him in disbelief. "What?" he asked in awe.

oOoOo

Tifa was looking outside, watching the snow falling to the ground. "I wonder if we can go outside and play in the snow as rabbits…" she told Rufus.

"Don't be ridiculous. We're going to freeze outside!" Rufus snapped at her.

"I don't think so. You guys have thick fur." Red XIII said.

"We can't leave Cloud here. We have to guard him… otherwise, if he doesn't wake up, we'll remain rabbits forever!" Rufus insisted.

"And I'm hearing those words straight from President Rufus's mouth. I'm so impressed that you care for Cloud!" Tifa said airily.

"I should. Our future, right now, is in his hands." He replied.

"What if he doesn't wake up anymore?" she asked.

Silence.

"You'll remain rabbits forever," Red XIII told them.

"I won't allow that to happen." Rufus muttered.

"But you can't predict…" Tifa began.

"You're going to be like animals," Red XIII told them, interrupting Tifa.

"No way!" Rufus snapped.

"I… I can't let that happen!" Tifa said in shock.

Rufus thought for a while before hopping off the window ledge down to the floor, "Hmf! Well then maybe we should get the damn revival potion for ourselves just in case Cloud doesn't wake up anymore!" he said before hopping towards the door. Tifa followed after him, "Rufus, it's dangerous! Hojo might do something to us; he almost killed me a while ago!" she told him.

"We have no other choice. We have to do this ourselves." Rufus told her.

She thought for a while with a worried look in her eyes. "Well… It's going to be tough, since Junon's a bit far and we can't snowboard as rabbits… and it'll be tough to hitch a ride at some train or chopper…"

"But it's easy to become road-kill if we take the highway, so I think we'll just have to walk… or hop." Rufus pointed out before hopping up onto the doorknob, clutching it tightly against his small body and his front and hind legs making an effort to twist it…

Tifa watched quietly as he was finally able to open the door.

"I can't believe you two are working together. Especially you, Tifa. I thought you hated ShinRa so much?" Red XIII asked with an amused look on his face.

Rufus just got onto the floor again and turned to Tifa. "Let's go, Tifa." He said, deciding to ignore Red XIII's remark regarding Tifa's feelings for him.

Tifa stared at Rufus for a few moments before deciding to come along. "We'll be back here," she told Red XIII.

Red XIII sighed. "Just hurry and be careful." He said as he went over to the door and closed it once the two had gone out.

oOoOo

Rufus and Tifa began their journey to Midgar even though they both have no idea how to get into the next ship or the next plane.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Tifa asked as they watched the last ship to Midgar sail away from the port.

Rufus turned his gaze to the direction of the airport. "We're going to have a hard time. If we're dogs, it would be easier. But we're rabbits." He muttered.

"Can't we squeeze ourselves inside one of the suitcases or packages there or something?" she asked.

"Ugh! Me, squeezing into those suitcases? I don't think so. I get claustrophobic…" he muttered.

She rolled her eyes, "Ooh. A weakness! So Rufus ShinRa is claustrophobic!" she said joyfully with a hint of sarcasm in her tone before leading the way towards the airport. "You won't. I'm here. We can do this! Remember, we're working together now if we want to be human again!" she told him, but she stopped in her tracks when breathed in some strange scent.

Rufus began to sniff the air too. "You know, being a rabbit really altered my sense of smell… I'm beginning to detect something… another animal…" he muttered quite nervously. Suddenly, a big dark shadow loomed over the two of them from behind.

"Eeps!" Tifa freaked out. She and Rufus slowly turned around and they almost died of a heart-attack when they realized that it was Sephiroth carrying a black bunny rabbit with a red bandanna around its head.

Sephiroth eyed the two rabbits on the ground. "Hmm… this one looks familiar…" he let go of his Vinny bunny and picked up the Ruffy bunny. "You're supposed to be Vinny's mate, right?" he asked.

The Ruffy bunny instantly shook its tiny quivering head.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Oh well… I wonder where Cloud is. I have to talk to him about mating Vinny with his Lucrecia bunny so that they could produce offspring and then I could breed them and sell them…" he muttered before letting go of the Ruffy bunny.

"You came all the way here for that?" Rufus demanded from Vincent.

Vincent just twitched his nose. "He can't stop thinking about mating." He told Rufus.

"Vincent, you're here!" Tifa approached him.

Vincent eyed Tifa in shock. "T…Tifa?" he asked.

"Long story." She muttered miserably.

"C'mon, Vinny. Let's go." Sephiroth was about to grab Vinny Bunny but it hopped away from him, going behind Ruffy Bunny and Tiffy Bunny.

"What now?" Sephiroth asked, his facial expression softening, wondering what his rabbit could want this time.

"Well… here goes…" Vincent told his bunny companions before he began to hop continuously… and they all realized that he was spelling out something on the snow.

Sephiroth squinted, straining to read. "…Hojo?" he asked.

His rabbit nodded.

Sephiroth frowned and stepped forward, staring at the name with scorn.

"Good job, Vincent." Rufus told him.

"Something has to be done. If nobody else can help us, maybe he can." Vincent replied.

"Sounds like desperation to me…" Tifa said with a singsong voice.

"Why, do you have any other ideas?" Rufus demanded with an annoyed tone.

She just wriggled her nose. "It's just that I still don't like Sephiroth." She told them.

"Well… he's got a lovable side..." Vincent began with an unsure tone, recalling everything that happened during the past few weeks that he had been with Sephiroth.

"Don't go defending him. I'm not going to become convinced." She muttered miserably while eyeing Sephiroth with a hateful stare.

Sephiroth turned to the Tiffy Bunny. "I don't think your friend likes me, Vinny." He told the Vinny Bunny.

Vincent hopped towards Sephiroth and pointed at the name that he had written on the ground.

Sephiroth clenched his fists. "Hmf… I'm sure that bastard scientist did something bad to you and your bunny friends, huh?" he asked scornfully.

The three rabbits nodded their heads, much to Sephiroth's surprise. Then, they scurried a few meters away from him when they saw his green eyes reflecting too much rage as he growled in anger. "ARGH! That bastard is really going to pay! How dare he hurt the only thing I love the most!" he snapped violently.

"Gee… he's really serious!" Tifa said with an amused tone.

"Alright. Here goes. Everything according to plan…" Vincent told his companions.

Sephiroth picked up the three rabbits. "Come on, we'll go to that evil scientist and I'll finish him once and for all so that he cannot harm any more of your kind!" he announced victoriously.

"This sounds promising…" Rufus remarked to Tifa and Vincent.

"At least we wouldn't have a hard time traveling now…" Tifa said with a pleasant tone.

"Why? Were you planning to go somewhere?" Vincent asked.

"We were planning to go to Hojo and get the reverse potion ourselves." She replied.

"Why not enlist Cloud's help?" he asked.

"He just drank the revival potion and is currently asleep." Rufus explained.

"Oh. I see… how do you think he's doing now?" Vincent asked with a concerned tone.

"I just hope he finds Aerith before his time is up." Tifa said with a worried look in her eyes.

"He will find Aerith. He _should_. I wouldn't want to sound like I betrayed him or something…" Rufus muttered.

Tifa and Vincent turned to him. "You're saying something?" the former asked.

Rufus shook his head as his ears drooped a little. "No, don't mind me. I was just thinking out loud…" he fibbed.


End file.
